TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

AN ENJOYABLY ENERGIZED PRODUCTIVE MORNING

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:40:00 +0000

GOING TO NEED AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER IN OUR FRONT YARD SOON

Had myself a thoroughly enjoyable energy driven morning, just like years ago. Could that Kidney Stone have been the culprit these last few years in draining my energy so badly? Both mentally & physically. I could sure feel a welcome difference as I began to rev up my day starting with the cleaning of our Motorhome’s basement storage bins. A commenter once asked, 'why would I clean out storage bins every year.' In our boondocking travels we sometimes get ourselves up & down some mighty dusty Southwestern roads & that fine sandy desert dust has a way of making it's way into our storage areas. I like to start each trip in the fall with clean bins.

Not only did I get all the bins on the passenger side emptied but I vacuumed & hosed out each one as well. Even cleaned up the big propane tank bin, & that was a first. Also got a bunch of weeds whacked, cleaned the Jeep’s motor & re-arranged part of the storage space in our carport. Somewhere in there I also managed to get some watering done, painted a wood base which two of our 4 coach solar batteries sit on, hosed all the pine pollen off the Jeep & watered some flowers. What a great feeling it was to once again be doing things the way I used to do them years ago. Get half a dozen projects on the go & totally enjoy working away at getting them all done. Nowadays I guess they call that multi-tasking. Thursday I hope to get the bins done on the rig’s driver side plus clean some windows. Just love this energy boost I am experiencing:)) We also have a spate of cooler weather going on right now so that lends itself to higher sustained energy levels as well. However, I did seem to start running out of gas around 2 p.m.

EVEN GOT THE PROPANE TANK SCRUBBED UP
Wished I could say it was another pain free day, but…….. Have had about half a dozen short severe pain spasms in my lower left back. It is the exact same pain as a Kidney Stone moving, but luckily the spasms have only lasted about 10 seconds then quickly backed off. It is that left Kidney where all the laser action took place a couple days ago. Seems to happen if I have been sitting, then get up & start walking. Maybe it’s the angle of my recliner putting pressure on the Kidney area. Because it is infrequent & of short duration, I have not felt it necessary to take any pain meds.

WHEN DESERT BOONDOCKING IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO CARRY SOME LUMBER ALONG IN CASE OF SOFT SAND

And, here’s a bit of a curious thing. Couldn’t help but notice how sore my throat has been since Monday’s procedure. Not as bad today as yesterday. It’s not the kind of sore throat that comes with a cold. My throat has been…………. just plain sore.

BEGAN MY CARPORT CLEANING & STORAGE RE-ORGANIZING THIS MORNING…ABOUT TIME!!

Had a couple commenter questions about where Pheebs has been meeting her new Pals lately. First, it is very rare for us to meet fellow walkers on our Pine forest trails. Most folks in our Park are elderly & are not into walking anymore. (it's also why our Park is so pleasantly quiet) This week however, we met two separate residents out walking their dogs & that is how Pheebs got to make a couple new friends. In fact, when I took Pheebs for a second walk Tuesday afternoon she once again met her new Pal from Tuesday morning, Dexter, & his Dad Gerald coming the other way. Took Pheebs & Dexter about 5 minutes of intense playing together to wear each other out.

EVEN MANAGED TO CLEAN ALL THE ARIZONA DESERT DUST OFF THE JEEP’S ENGINE TODAY

A big welcome to JOHN ABERT for becoming our latest Blog Follower. I was beginning to think our Follower's list might have been busted but with John's arrival I am assured it is still up & running. Welcome to our Blog John & I particularly liked the 'Etiquette' info you brought with you. Also, in your 'About This Blog' section I was especially interested in what you had to say. Liked your words in the last paragraph, "If you can play nice, I will, too. But if you throw stones, be aware that I am very adept at catching them and throwing them right back."
KELLY & I CARRY A PAIR OF CRUTCHES & A CANE WITH US ON OUR SOUTHWEST TRAVELS BECAUSE SOME OF THE ROCKY UNEVEN TRAILS WE SOMETIMES HIKE CAN EASILY CAUSE A SPRAINED ANKLE…………… OR WORSE

How delightfully refreshing I found this following short video on Penguins. And how nice to step out of this madly manic world we live in for a few moments to see another side of our beautiful Planet few of us will ever see in person. I especially loved the soundtrack to this. Take a minute, cast away your troubles, & lose yourself in, PENGUINS:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A Sunday school teacher was giving her class an assignment for the following week. "Next Sunday," she said, "we are going to talk about liars, and in preparation for our lesson I want you all to read the Seventeenth Chapter of Mark."
The following week, at the beginning of the class meeting, the teacher said, "Now then, all of you who have prepared for the lesson by reading the Seventeenth Chapter of Mark, please step to the front of the room."
About half the class rose and came forward.
"The rest of you may leave," said the teacher, "these students are the ones I want to talk to. There is no Seventeenth Chapter in the Book of Mark."

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

FEELING BETTER THAN EXPECTED:))

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Tue, 29 May 2012 23:07:00 +0000

Woke up feeling pretty good this morning & managed to stay that way for the rest of the day. No pain so did not have to take any further medication since the one pill after returning home Monday afternoon. Doc Robot’s office did call this morning & has already scheduled me for an appointment on June 21tst at the Stratford Hospital to have the stent removed. Only a 15 minute procedure & I’ll be out the door. But Yeouchers, not looking forward to that one by the sounds of it!! Oh, & he did send me the troublesome Kidney Stone today via UPS:))
ME & MY KIDNEY STONE:)) >>>
Nice to be out on the morning trail with Kelly & the Pheebs. No sign of the new Goose family since the first day they were all on the pond last week. They just vanished. Geese have a habit of moving the young family soon after they are hatched & we suspect they all trooped off through the pine forest to a larger pond about a quarter mile east of us. It's a popular place for Geese & in previous years we have seen Goose families making that journey.

PHEEBS MEETS NEW PAL DEXTER ON THE TRAIL THIS MORNING & THE TWO OF THEM HAD A BLAST
Had a few things on my agenda this morning & yep, another medical appointment was third on my list. But first it was off to Clinton to get a pair of clip-on sunglasses for my glasses. My big Walmart sun shades didn't fit my new glasses very well & kept falling down on my nose. From Clinton I drove to Walmart in Goderich to fill a prescription for Tylenol 3's which I actually didn't need but figured they are good to have on hand for emergencies. Besides, they were free.

AND ANOTHER NEW PAL ON THE TRAIL…THIS IS KOAH & KOAH IS PART WOLF…THEY WERE BOTH PRETTY EXHAUSTED FROM PLAYING
My third stop had me sitting in the Goderich Medical Clinic for 40 minutes waiting for my turn to lose some more blood. This was my first blood work check-up to see how the newly prescribed cholesterol drug, Crestor is affecting my liver. So far, no side effects from Crestor.   Next blood check-up will be in 6 weeks.

IT’S THAT MESSY PINE POLLEN TIME OF YEAR AGAIN
Kelly found a Government 1-800 number for Passport Canada this morning & we were able to find out my new Passport is destined to arrive here the week of June 11. That clears up another worry:))

THIS IS WHERE OUR PINE FOREST TRAIL SPLITS & WE BEGIN OUR LOOP

I liked Mike's post over at Phannie & Mae this morning entitled, IT'S OFFICIAL: I'M A GEEZER.   If you don't think you are a Geezer yet, you had better check out Mike's post. And, like I said in my comment to Mike....."I was able to identify with every Geezerism he felt, right from start to finish. How in the heck did all this Geezeritus stuff happen to us guys anyway. Sneaked right up it did"!!

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A teacher was having trouble teaching arithmetic to one little boy. So she said, "If you reached in your right pocket and found a nickel, and you reached in your left pocket and found another one, what would you have?"
The little boy answered, "Somebody else's pants."
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

MIGHTY GLAD TODAY IS BEHIND ME:))

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Tue, 29 May 2012 01:26:00 +0000

SNAPPED A QUICK PHOTO ON THE HOSPITAL GROUNDS ON OUR WAY IN THIS MORNING

Well, I’m glad today is behind me. I will deal with the medical day’s ahead as I get to each one, but for now I can cross today’s event’s off the list. Aside from seeing Doc Robot in the operating for a few seconds before they sent me off to LaLa Land I never saw him again. But, Kelly did. Following the surgery or procedure (not sure which is the correct term) he did talk to Kelly in the waiting room. Kelly sent my Aunt Jean an email this afternoon & in it she said…..“ Hi Jean.... it's 4:00 and we are home !
All went well, Al is sleeping. ( ya darn tootin I was)
The urologist came out to talk to me... he said the stone was very large and imbedded , that he had a difficult time getting it broken up....and hopefully the tube has not been narrowed by it. Said it must have been in there for a long time to be so imbedded. Tried getting the other large one out of the same kidney.. but was not sure how successful as it was around a curve (corner ) and seemed to be imbedded in a cyst”.

OH NO, NOT ANOTHER WAITING ROOM PHOTO AGAIN

Rather than drag you through my whole day from start to finish, let me just give you some of the more colorful ‘pain’ parts. For sure, I was expecting the intravenous to hurt because people have always had a problem getting that started in my hand. Now, fully knowing that problem, you wouldn’t have thought I would make the following dumb mistake. But, I did. Nice Nurse person leaned over to me & said, “ would you mind if we have one of our paramedics do the IV because she is in training & part of her training program is doing IV’s. I did remember seeing 2 Paramedic’s in the hall when I was being wheeled into a large room. Because of my always, ‘eager to please personality’, I chirped out a meek, “Ok, that would be fine.” What a mistake!!

WAITING FOR MY NUMBER TO BE CALLED

I didn’t feel the young blonde trainee was exactly exuding a lot of confidence, or was that just my foreboding misgivings taking over. The Senior Paramedic was a hulking chrome domed guy who I felt for sure was there for the express purpose of keeping me pinned to the bed…..or the floor!! I knew I was in trouble when neither one of them could find a vein. They kept me making a fist & tapped & thumped the back of my hand to make the vein ‘pop’ as they called it. This probably went on for a full minute. Oh dear, where did that nice Nurse go. Couldn’t find a vein & the big guy appeared to be sweating a bit as they both worked at & discussed back & forth what to do. Finally, the young trainee decided to go for it…… & my right arm went for the side bed rail. The ordeal was on & I was on the losing end!! She probed & twisted, pushed & pulled, with the Incredible Hulk beside her trying his best to help. I swear I nearly tore the right side bed rail off. The nice Nurse suddenly appeared out of nowhere & got right in on the action, but to no avail. It was too late & the damage was done. I heard these words exchanged, which medical people may understand….. “bubble”, “I think she hit a valve", & “at least it didn’t blow.” That last one sure unleashed a whole heard of nasty fear Monsters in my head!! After about a minute the very apologetic nice Nurse thankfully pulled the IV needle out of my hand. IV mission aborted. I was about ready to abort myself right out of the Hospital!! The young blonde trainee & her Sumo Wrestler counterpart immediately turned & walked away. No goodbye, no explanation, no ‘apology’ no acknowledgement that I had even been there. Guess they just figured they were working on another rubber training Dummy. Well, they probably had the Dummy part right. The nice Nurse made up for all that & quietly leaned over, speaking softly, & told me what she thought about what had just happened. And, I will keep that thought to myself.

TAKE OFF ALL YOUR CLOTHES THE NICE NURSE SAID >>>

But, I still had a problem. An IV still had to be inserted & I was in no frame of mind to have to go through all that again!! Nice Nurse to the rescue once more & reassured me the Anaesthesiologist himself, in the operating room, would do it. I expressed concern & her words to me were, ‘not to worry, the 'big bucks guys’ in the operating room know what they were doing. And, I was about to find out she was right.

I think the worse thing about an impending operation or procedure or whatever someone is having done, is laying in a pre-op room waiting!! Just laying there totally helpless, waiting & waiting & waiting. Staring at the brightly lit ceiling with hospital sounds going on around you & all kinds of gruesome thoughts about what was coming next. For sure I was dreading the next IV attempt amongst other things. And then a young operating room nurse appeared at the end of the bed with a big smile & cheery attitude. I use the word ‘young’ a lot these days because I seem to be at that stage now where more people are appearing to be younger than me all the time. Now, how in the hell did that happen.

My operating room Nurse was just a wisp of a thing who I would have thought would have had trouble manoeuvring a an empty grocery cart down a wide shopping aisle. But there we went, lickety split, smokin right out of the room, cranked a left hand turn & down the hall we roared. She deftly made a couple of right turns & at one point had to throw on the bed brakes for a wide closed door ahead. Ya, I know, beds don’t have brakes but I think I heard her running shoes on the floor screeching us to a full stop. For sure I smelled rubber burning. Once through the doors we were in a long hall with big windows on the left & 4 or 5 operating rooms on the right. We were now getting down to the nitty gritty. She brought me a netted cap to put on then got me off the bed in my open backed hospital gown to walk into the operating room. Wow, what a Neat-O place.

My photographic eye was immediately filled with colors & compositions. This was a very new operating room with what I suspect was state of the art equipment. And, what a great looking bunch of equipment it was too. I was instantly drawn to two large light pods with multicolour bulbs. Groovy. Stepped up onto a stool & laid myself down on the operating table with those really cool futuristic space ship light pods arrayed over top me. Remember, I once worked at the Stratford Art Gallery & lighting art exhibits was one of the things I enjoyed doing, so I am attracted to lighting. Things happened very quickly now as I noticed what appeared to be a frenzied pace with operating room staff busily attending to various duties all around the room. People definitely seemed to hustling. Something placed under my head, something rolled up onto my upper left arm, heart monitors on my chest, the wispy OR Nurse checks to see if my bum is far enough down the table. It isn’t, so I had to do a bit of squiggling. My right arm is stretched out on a table or something & strapped down. The Anaesthesiologist & a male nurse are hovering over my right hand & talking in muffled tones. There goes that tapping & thumping on the back of my hand again. Oh no!! But, just a short prick, a slight grundge & the deed was done. Yep, nice Nurse was right….those ‘big bucks guys’ know what they are doing. Doc Robot’s face appears out of nowhere & hovers over me for a few seconds & mumbles something. He looks all green in his get-up. Aha, I knew it…..Doc Robot is a Martian!! More faces seem to come & quickly go as I am transfixed by those beautiful multi-colored light pods over me. And then………I am looking at the numbers 12:34 in bright red fuzzy letters.

It is a clock on the wall across from my bed…….I’m in the recovery room. Voices & hospital sounds again. Unhurried people going by. Someone beside my bed asks if I would like something to drink. Darn right I would. Probably the best gulp of Ginger Ale I ever had. Kelly appears at the side of the bed & within maybe 40 minutes I am dressed, on my feet & rarin to get out of there. Not so fast Mister!! They place me in a wheel chair while Kelly heads off to bring the car around. I am wheeled down the hall & onto an elevator. Short trip down one floor to the main level & out to the main entrance waiting area. Kelly rolls up a minute later, I thank the Nurse for not crashing the wheelchair & make my way to the car. Wow, was it ever hot & humid outside. A record breaking weather day. I no sooner closed the car door when I suddenly realized I was hungry. Kelly whips back into the Hospital & grabs me an egg salad sandwich from the snack bar in the lobby. We were home an hour later.

VIEW FROM MY WHEELCHAIR AS WE HEAD FOR THE HOSPITAL’S MAIN LOBBY

Aside from being dreadfully tired with a slightly heavy ache in my abdomen I didn’t feel too bad. That ache soon began to worsen though so I popped a prescribed pain pill & twenty minutes later all was well, I was stretched out in my recliner & off to LaLa Land again. No groovy lights this time though, just some wonderfully soothing ambient music.

MAIN ENTRANCE WAITING FOR KELLY…TODAY’S LAST PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM HERE AS WELL

As I type this tonight about 8 o’clock I am feeling not too bad except of course for being tired. Not much pain urinating yet (just some burning) but I am well aware there could be so we’ll just see how it goes. As if I had a choice eh…………Oh, & for you medical folks, they did put a stent in me somewhere. Don’t know where it is & I’m thinking I don’t really want to know anyway. Thanks to everyone for all your well wishes. Much appreciated:)))))))))))))))))))

KELLY ROLLS UP TO THE DOOR WITH THE BIG SANTA FE……….

Because this turned out to be a much longer post than I anticipated, I have foregone Groaners Corner………..

AND I EVEN MANAGED TO SNAP A PICTURE OF WHERE MY EGG SALAD SANDWICH CAME FROM:))

LET’S JUST GET IN THERE & GET ER DONE

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:47:00 +0000

Definition of land lease.....'A land lease--also called a ground lease--is a lease agreement that permits the tenant to use a piece of land owned by the landlord in exchange for rent'.
---
In Saturday's post I should have explained, 'we own our house/mobile home unit, but not the land it sit's on'. We pay a monthly fee for our lot at the 5 Seasons Estates & have been doing so for nearly 10 years.
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Full time RV folks Laurie & Odel over at SEMI - TRUE TALES are in the process of some exciting changes to their traveling lifestyle, but I'll let Laurie tell you all about it. Just click the above link:))

A cool rainy overcast day kept Pheebs & I grounded except for a short Jeep run to Goderich to pick up a few groceries. And nope, no McDonald's.

---

Kidney Stone surgery Monday morning at 11 so Kelly & I will be on the road early for the Stratford Hospital. No idea how I will feel Monday night about putting a post together. Been waiting five & a half months for this day & I’m just glad, in all that time, the large stone did not attempt to move again. Now, let's just get in there & get er done.....10-4:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( When I see the type of new television programing coming out lately I'm thinking the Gene pool could sure use a whole lot of extra chlorine these days….AL.
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

‘JUST THE FACTS MA’AM, JUST THE FACTS’

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sat, 26 May 2012 22:09:00 +0000

AT THE FOOT OF GHOST MOUNTAIN LOOKING TOWARDS JULIAN CALIFORNIA…… FEBRUARY 2012

Ok, yes.....Kelly & I are seriously considering selling our place here in Bayfield. We own our house but not the land it sit's on. Among other reasons, we think the time may be right for us to make some changes.

HIKING THE GHOST MOUNTAIN TRAIL

Alright, moving right along. Got up about 5:30 this morning & had a coffee with my socks on. Opened the patio door beside my chair & began the day with a relaxing chorus of Spring songbirds. Kelly was off to work while Pheebs & I stayed home doing yard work.

My main intention tonight is to keep today's post short & to the point for a change. As Sargent Joe Friday used to say years ago in the TV series, 'Dragnet,' "just the facts Ma'am, just the facts!!"
That's it from the Bayfield Bunch......sweet:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A guy had been feeling down for so long that he finally decided to seek the aid of a psychiatrist.
He went there, lay on the couch, spilled his guts then waited for the profound wisdom of the psychiatrist to make him feel better.
The psychiatrist asked him a few questions, took some notes then sat thinking in silence for a few minutes with a puzzled look on his face. Suddenly, he looked up with an expression of delight and said, "Um, I think your problem is low self-esteem. It is very common among losers."
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A GOOD DAY FOR SWIRLING OUT THE RIG’S BLACK TANK

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sat, 26 May 2012 00:24:00 +0000

MOM, POP, & ALL THE KIDS ON THE POND TODAY

Figured the weather was looking good enough to haul the Motorhome out for a spin over to Exeter this morning. I figured wrong. Pheebs & were only a few miles down the road when a fast moving storm coming in off the lake rolled over us. Not severe, but just enough rain for half an hour to have the windshield wipers on & turn all my big shiny wheels to dull gray again. It’s a 40 minute drive to the town of Exeter & I make this run every year about this time.

In the north end of Exeter is a small park where RV folks can camp for a night free. There is also a dump station & potable water here. This is the place I like to give my tanks a good swirling out in the Spring. Especially the black one. Some may remember a year ago when my old sewer host bust as soon as I pulled the black tank handle. I really don’t need to tell you what happened after that but luckily I knew there was a Canadian Tire Store about 3 blocks away with an RV section. Cleaned up the mess & myself & headed for the store. Bought myself a new fold up accordion flexible Rhino sewer hose. Been using it ever since & it works great. One small mishap in Hazen Arkansas last fall but it was my fault & not the hose. Anyway, got the job done (in the rain) this morning & Pheebs & I were back home before 11 a.m.

LAST YEAR IT WAS ME & THE LITTLE MOTORMOUSE MAKING THE EXETER TRIP ALONE & THIS YEAR IT WAS PHEEBS & I

About noon I hopped on the bike & headed off to Goderich to buy myself a six pack of Boost. I am determined to loose some weight ‘again’ & I plan to use that food supplement Boost to help me along with that. I’m not going to say anything more about my weight loss plan because I have done that half a dozen times before & blogged about it only to gain all the weight back & fall right on on my big fat face. If I am successful for any length of time I will be sure to tell you.

MY LITTLE ORANGE ORANGUTAN BUDDY RIDES WITH ME ON THE BIKE EVERYWHERE I GO >>>

As you all know, I sometimes refer to myself as Mr. Blabberfingers & I do that with very good reason. This gets me into trouble sometimes around the house here. I am one of those people who has a tendency to write about whatever is on my mind at the moment. Sometimes I do not think things through too well & dribble those thoughts out onto my keyboard. It seems I do this because as I sit here putting my blog together, I feel like I am actually having a casual one on one chat with a good friend. However, this is where the Blabber part comes in & as Kelly sometimes tells me, some things are better left unsaid. You would think I would learn that wouldn't you. But no, when I get keyed up about something, my arms get to shaking, my hands get to trembling, & my fingers get to tapping. No, it's not a game I play, as a commenter suggested….. it's just me trying to keep an impossibly tight lid on my Blabber!!

Now, blabbering right along…………..let me just give you the following scenario. I know many people & especially fulltime RV folks who have been down this road. You make a decision to change up your lifestyle a bit. Maybe it’s to hit the road fulltime or maybe it’s just time to sell your house & move on to a new area with a different house & some new surroundings. Here’s where the problem comes in. You may be out pricing new or used rigs or properties or houses & you come across the dream vehicle or house you have been looking for. For example purposes let’s use a house & property. Everything lines up perfectly & it is exactly what you have been looking for. You reach in your pocket to pull out some money for the new digs but you come up way short of course. Well, most of us do anyway. Fact is, you have to sell the house your in before you have enough to buy the new place. Well, how useless is that. You make an offer to buy something you like & your offer is accepted, but what good is it. While your sitting on your can waiting for your own house to sell, your dream property probably get’s sold out right from under you. The next guy walking on to that property simply had more money in his pocket than you did. So, there you sit, still ‘wishin & a hopin’. I think Dusty Springfield had a song by that name years ago.

TOOK THIS SPIDER PHOTO BESIDE THE HOUSE WITH A 300mm LENS THIS MORNING & DID NOT SEE THE DRAGONFLY UNTIL I ENLARGED THE PHOTO >>>

Ok, scenario number two. You find a small acceptable place to rent for a bit & then put your house up for sale. As soon as your house is sold you bank that money & move into your small rental place, all the while still keeping your fingers on the Real Estate market looking for whatever it is you are looking for. When found, you walk up the driveway & make the seller an offer. Only this time you have enough money in your pocket to seal the deal right there & then before the guy behind you does. Now, am I missing something here or does scenario number 2 just make a whole lot more darn good practical sense. It’s a little something Kelly & I have been doing some thinking about lately………..

TWO MALE BALTIMORE ORIOLE’S HAVING A SPAT IN OUR DRIVEWAY…HAPPY TO REPORT THEY BOTH WERE FINE & FLEW AWAY UNHARMED
Thanks to DONNA (FROGGI DONNA as we all fondly know her) for her suggestions on getting our comment section settings ironed out. I can certainly well understand people not wanting to have to get all involved in that Google + social network stuff. Here is Donna's suggestions as what to do for folks having difficulty signing in to our, or anyone else’s comment section.....And, as you will notice, our comment section is looking different today after Kelly, following some of Donna's suggestions below made the necessary changes this morning. Hopefully we now have this comment fiasco thing under control finally. Donna says............
1) Enter a comment
2) Your friend will be prompted to log in to his Google account
3) Enter Google information
4) Enter the word verification if asked
5) Click the link for LIMITED PROFILE
6) Enter name they want displayed
7) Click OK
This way you are not creating a Google+ ID, just a link between the Google Gmail account and Blogger. It has nothing to do with a blog.
I did get an error message in the popup window but when I closed it and clicked ENTER COMMENT again, it showed me as logged in.
Hope this helps your friend and anyone else who wants to use Google but not create a G+ account.

RED BREASTED GROSBEAK

Oh, and they need to expand the comment window to see the login box. All they are seeing is the CREATE a BLOG part, they need to ignore that.
You might want to consider switching to either embedded or full page comment forms rather than the pop-up......THANKS DONNA, MUCH APPRECIATED:))

And, thanks to commenter RunNRose for reminding me about a Passport Canada call we had last month. I may have forgot to update what is happening about that. We couldn't figure out why Passport Canada had phoned & they never did call back. Couple weeks later we received a form saying we had failed to check off one of the employment boxes. Kelly did that & sent it back. Haven't heard anything since & this is a good reminder to maybe call them & see if everything is still moving along OK.

WE HAVE MANY FINE OLD STONE HOUSES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
And, talking about poor short term memory.....yesterday I had a question from some folks about the deck stain I used last year on our deck. Instead of getting up from the computer & slipping out to the shed & writing down the name on the can I promptly forgot the question within seconds of reading it. I was not reminded of the question until Thursday night while sitting in the waiting room at the Clinton Hospital. They had a small television in there & a commercial came on about paints & stains for people's decks. 'BINGO' I quickly pulled out my little book & made a note to myself to answer that question when I got home. Next problem was, where had I seen that question. Poured through all of yesterday's Hotmail, Yahoo, & Gmail programs trying to find it. No luck. And then, out of the blue I remembered Facebook Messages. Yep, there it was. It bothers me to no end all the time because I know I have misplaced or forgotten to answer people's questions whether they come in my email, Facebook, Shoutbox, Gmail or Hotmail. Seems if I don't answer a question within seconds of reading it, chances are good my mind is going to forget it.

WE HAVE LOTS OF PERIWINKLE AROUND OUR HOUSE

Mark, from BOX CANYON BLOG.COM has joined the Bayfield Bunch on our travels afar & our travels around the house now that we are home for the summer. Welcome aboard and we always enjoy having new Blog Followers dropping in:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man from the city is out plowing his field and gets his tractor stuck in the wet ground. A farmer driving by stops his truck and walks to the fence to call over the city feller. You need a mule to plow such wet ground he says.
"Where can I buy one?" he is asked.
Well, I just happened to have one for 100 dollars he says.
"I'll take him," says the other man as he counts out the money.
I can't bring him over today. I don't work on Sunday morrow OK?
"Sure."
The next day the truck pulls up and the old farmer gets out. He says, "sorry, bad news."
I went out after breakfast and the mule was dead.
The city feller says just give me my money back then.
"Can't, spent it already!"
"Well... unload the mule then."
"What ya gonna do with him?"
"Raffle him off!"
"Naw, ya cant raffle off a dead mule!"
"Just watch me, us City fellers know a few tricks too ya know."
One month goes by and the city feller and farmer run into each other at the barber shop.
"What did ya do with that dead mule?"
"Raffled him off, sold 100 tickets at two dollars each and made 98 dollars profit."
"Didn't anyone complain?"
"Just one guy………………….. so I gave him his two dollars back!"

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A MORNING VISIT, A WINDSHIELD FIX, A BONE DENSER & BABY GOOSES:))

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:20:00 +0000

Second full day & still no Anonymous spam. Now, how great is that:)) However, there may be a problem with doing this. Just received this email from a friend today which reads………..”Al, you removed 'Anonymous' from your blog's comment identity options, which is good, but in the process also removed 'Name/URL' which is bad since that was the option I used. There now appear only two options - Google Account and OpenID. I have a Google account for gmail but when I enter that it takes me to a sign up page for a Blogger account. I don't want a Blogger account. Got too many accounts to keep track of as it is and I have no idea what an OpenID is, so until you find a way to add Name/URL back to the list of options I won't be commenting again, which you might view as a good thing. :-)” Oh Dear, anybody got any suggestions??

A BALTIMORE ORIOLE WATCH’S THE BLUR OF A PASSING MOURNING DOVE

Another in a series of warm sunny days & I do have a feeling we are going to to have a long hot dry summer. All our foliage is looking so vibrant & green at the moment but it may be a different looking landscape in a month if we do not get the usual rains. First year I have ever had to top up our rain barrel with the garden hose.

After 10 consecutive working days, Kelly has a few days off (no, that is not a picture of Kelly) so we were on the road about 9:30 this morning heading for Mitchell to visit Uncle Harry. Not too much new there & he is still holding his own for his age. Of course Pheebe always brings a big splash of sunshine into his room every time we go & she always makes Harry's day.

PHEEBS IS FASCINATED BY HARRY’S BOUNCING ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY BALLOON’ AFTER KELLY TURNED A ROOM FAN ON

Back to Bayfield & dropped off Kelly & the Pheebs. I was at the glass repair place for the Jeep's windshield fix by 1 o'clock. Sure didn't take them long to repair the crack. It's still slightly visible, but barely. Our little green dash frog from Niland California keeps a wary eye on it.

SOME KIND OF MACHINE GIZMO IS AT WORK REPAIRING THE CRACK IN OUR WINDSHIELD

We sure have been going round & round with some future plans & decisions ever since returning from Arizona nearly 2 months ago. Well, actually it has been much longer than that & I would say many of our future plans began back as far as 2007. Guess that kind of makes a couple of those future plans…….’right now’. Some have already been realized, some have withered & died on the vine while others have been simmering on a couple back burners. We have just turned a few of those burners up this week. Oh how I love when burners get turned up & plans begin to cook. I always love the prospect of major change simply because it always results in something major new:)) The following 4 nature photos may or may not have something to do with one of our ‘possible’ upcoming decisions. You can rest assured if the pot comes to a full boil…..I will be telling you about it. If not, we’ll just quietly turn the burner back down a bit…….until next time:))

My bone density scan at the Clinton Hospital just after supper tonight went just fine. A few groovy whirring & beeping sounds emitting from the machine & that was it. Aside from a few scattered staff members, I think I was the only Bone Denser on the floor. Now, how nice is that:))

And, late breaking news just hot of the Goose Pond. Took Pheebs for a walk after returning from Clinton & saw some fluffy little baby Goose guys gathered around Momma Goose on the nest:))

MOMMA GOOSE IS TRYING HARD TO KEEP THE KIDS HIDDEN & QUIET

PROUD POPPA GOOSE STANDS GUARD OUT ON THE POND

MOMMA & THE KIDS ARE ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE POND OUT OF CAMERA VIEW TO THE RIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:(( On a rural road a state trooper pulled this farmer over and said: "Sir, do you realize your wife fell out of the car several miles back?"
To which the farmer replied: "Thank God, I thought I had gone deaf!"

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

ANOTHER DOCTOR APPOINTMENT…..SO, WHAT ELSE IS NEW!!

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:59:00 +0000

JUST A RELAXING GREEN GRASS, PHLOX, & PHEEBE KIND OF DAY

How nice it was this morning to open my comment section & not find a single Anonymous spam sitting in there. And, better yet, the section has remained spam free for the whole day:)) Here is the change Kelly made in my Blogger Dashboard. Click on 'Settings' 'Posts & comments'-'Who can comment'? Switched from the 'Anyone' box to the next one down, 'Registered User'. If you do this, just remember to save your settings by clicking the orange 'save settings' box at upper right. For our legitimate Anonymous folks: Commenter Sherry says, " If you disallow anonymous just remind your followers that they can post under name/url and just leave the url part blank and their name will show up. Anyway, I will try this for now & see how it goes. If I still get spammed I will go back to 'comment moderation'. Comment moderation is the way I always had it up until Google came up with that moronic double 'word verification' crap. For the most part, I like Google & think they have a lot smarts going for them but they sure dropped the ball in that word verification department!!

COULD IT BE THAT ONE OF THESE LADIES HAD A LITTLE MORE ‘GAS’ THAN THE OTHERS

Been about 4 years since we last carried our bicycles on the back of the rig all the way out to the Southwest. We never did ride them enough to justify hauling them back & forth so I took the bicycle carrier off the back of the rig a long time ago. This morning, I put it back on. We intend to take the bikes to Arizona in October & leave them there. The landscape is far nicer for riding than here. In Congress, we are one short block from miles upon miles of open desert with a hard packed Jeep road right at the gate. The desert surface is also hard packed making for challenging rides through the Cactus & Mesquite. This for me is far more relaxing, interesting & exciting than riding in an endless straight line on a dangerous paved road with traffic whizzing by.

When’s the last time you had a good Spring tulip fix. Might want to check out THE MOHO & OTHER TRAVELING TALES today. Go slow & tip toe lightly over the old weather beaten covered bridges along the way.

I remember seeing my first ‘shoe tree’ many years ago alongside the road in Utah’s Kodachrome Basin. They have a habit of springing up in unlikely spots. HAPPY TRAILS found a healthy one growing near Zion Canyon. Certainly is bearing a lot of clustered fruit this time of year.

Thursday I have an appointment to get a stone chip fixed in the Jeep’s windshield. Kid in an old pick-up truck came roaring down a gravel road last Saturday & threw a stone into my windshield.

GEEZER ROW IN THE WAITING ROOM TODAY

It was nearly an hour & a half sitting in the Goderich Hospital waiting room before I got in to see the Doctor late this afternoon. Yes, he said, the growth on the side of my head has to come off. No, not my ear!! He said it looked benign but it’s best to remove it. His reaction to the second growth on my chest was different so I now await a call from his office for a date to have both those growths removed & analyzed. We will see what happens after that…………..

NO, THAT IS NOT DOC ROBOT…IT’S DOC ANNAN WHO WILL DO MY ‘NEXT’ DAY SURGERY

Late tomorrow afternoon I am off to the Clinton Hospital (ho-hum) for a bone density test, whatever that is. I understand it is painless so that works for me………

SPOTTED THIS LITTLE FELLOW ON OUR WALK THIS MORNING JUST AS HE WAS ABOUT TO CRAWL INTO THAT HOLE IN THE TREE TRUNK IN FRONT OF HIM…ALL OF TODAY’S PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH MY CANON POWERSHOT POINT & SHOOT SX210iS & I WAS SURPRISED AT THE CLARITY OF THE RACCOON DESPITE THE LENS BEING FULLY ZOOMED & THE PHOTO CROPPED…SAME WITH THE COWS PHOTO

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A clergyman is walking down a country lane and sees a young farmer struggling to load hay back onto a cart after it had fallen off.
"You look hot, my son," said the cleric. "why don't you rest a moment, and I'll give you a hand."
"No thanks," said the young man.
"My father wouldn't like it."
"Don't be silly," the minister said.
"Everyone is entitled to a break. Come and have a drink of water."
Again the young man protested that his father would be upset. Losing his patience, the clergyman said, "Your father must be a real slave driver. Tell me where I can find him and I'll give him a piece of my mind!"
"Well," replied the young farmer, "he's under the load of hay."

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

CLEARING UP A MISCONCEPTION

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Tue, 22 May 2012 23:35:00 +0000

A SET OF WOODEN STAIRS LEAD FROM BAYFIELD’S PIONEER PARK TO THE BEACH BELOW

Guess I had better quickly clear up a misconception I may have accidentally created in Monday's post when I said, "Kelly & I are off to the Clinton Hospital Tuesday morning to meet with Doc Robot to go over the results of my Kidney Stone ultra-sound last week. I guess he will let us know just what all he has to do next Monday when he goes digging for those stones. Two key words there were ‘next Monday’. My surgery was not today, it's next week on Monday May 28th……………………….

HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM THIS MORNING, & NO, I DO NOT HAVE AN INTEREST IN READING ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH POLITICS!!

OK, flash forward to this morning's meeting with Doc Robot. Before he entered the room I saw Doc shake hands with someone in the hall & for sure I saw a smile on his face. Seconds later, before I could recover from my mild shock he entered the room with a 'Hello.' I immediately melted in my chair & dripped myself onto the floor. Now, over the next few minutes he may not exactly have come across as Mary Poppins but I thought I did detect a hint of warmth & reassurance in his voice. Just a touch mind you, but I think it was there. Well, I’m going to tell myself it was there anyway. Told me everything was looking good for Monday's Moon shot. Well, maybe not quite a Moon shot, but the procedure is in the same vicinity of sky. And, by the way, I have never questioned this fellow’s surgical skills. I have only made gest of his less than warm medical bedside manner. And yes, I well know that in the end, it is a Doctor’s surgical skill that really matters. But, if in my unconscious fog during the procedure next week I hear Doc Robot utter the word, Ooooops……I’m a gonna really be ticked!!!!!!!!!!!!

BEYOND THAT FAR DOOR LURKS DOC ROBOT >>>

When I first opened the comment section of our blog this morning I had 12 comments, 7 of which were 'Anonymous' spams. Our spam load has doubled, if not tripled in the past week so for sure something has happened. Makes me wonder sometimes if it's possible for someone to purposely submit a person's URL directly to a Spammer’s list somehow!! Anyway, I have several options available to me on how to deal with these scum bag Spammers. Either re-instate Google's ridiculous double word verification or block all Anonymous comments. I am leaning toward the latter. However, by doing so this means that some of our legitimate 'Anonymous' readers may no longer be able to comment. Now, I'm not sure exactly how this works but I'm wondering if the way around that for folks is to simply sign up for a Google account. No harm in doing so & it does give you an extra few perks like Gmail which you may or may not decide to use. Any suggestions would be helpful. May also have to go back to 'comment moderation' to keep the crap & garbage out of the comment section as well. Anyway, I did make one change in my Blogger Dashboard today so we’ll see what happens. Also wondering if it's possible to block a specific email address from accessing a blog’s comment section........

OUR BACKYARD ‘ARIZONA’ PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS GARDEN

After publishing Monday night’s blog on the early side I grabbed my cameras & headed over to the lake. I had heard rumblings of thunder & figured we might have a storm rolling in. The storm did not materialize but I did manage to get a few photos from Bayfield’s Pioneer Park atop the cliffs overlooking Lake Huron.

OBSERVATION DECK AT PIONEER PARK

Late Wednesday afternoon I am off to the Goderich Hospital to see another Specialist but I will fill you in on the details of what comes out of that meeting tomorrow. And, we haven't even got to the medical side of June yet. But hey, if it wasn't for all this medical stuff going on, what other fun would I be having this summer eh.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A very zealous soul-winning young preacher recently came upon a farmer working in his field. Being concerned about the farmer's soul the preacher asked the man, "Are you laboring in the vineyard of the Lord my good man?"
Not even looking at the preacher and continuing his work the farmer replied, "Naw, these are soybeans."
"You don't understand," said the preacher. "Are you a Christian?"
With the same amount of interest as his previous answer the farmer said, "Nope my name is Jones. You must be lookin for Jim Christian. He lives a mile south of here."
The young determined preacher tried again asking the farmer, "Are you lost?"
"Naw! I've lived here all my life," answered the farmer.
"Are you prepared for the resurrection?" the frustrated preacher asked.
This caught the farmer's attention and he asked, "When's it gonna be?"
Thinking he had accomplished something the young preacher replied, "It could be today, tomorrow, or the next day." Taking a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiping his brow, the farmer remarked, "Well, don't mention it to my wife. She don't get out much and she'll wanna go all three days."

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

MONDAY

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:13:00 +0000

Kelly & I are off to Clinton Hospital in the morning to meet with Doc Robot to go over the results of my Kidney Stone ultra-sound last week. I guess he will let us know just what all he has to do next Monday when he goes digging for those stones. Was thinking of taking a bottle of water with me tomorrow just to see if it would turn to ice when he enters the room.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A bus load of tourists arrives at Runnymede. They gather around the guide who says, "This is the spot where the barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta."A fellow at the front of the crowd asks, "When did that happen?"
"1215," answers the guide.
The man looks at his watch and says, "Damn! Just missed it by a half hour!"

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

SOME RVING THOUGHTS & TOO MANY GROCERIES FOR THE SADDLEBAGS

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:18:00 +0000

A LITTLE COLOR CREATIVITY IN GOOGLE’S PICASA 3.9:))

Ever buy too many groceries to fit in your saddle bags? Yep, did that one this morning. Spent a couple fine Sunday morning hours tooling around our quiet countryside on the bike. On the way back to Bayfield I stopped at a supermarket in Goderich for a few groceries. Forgot I had all my rain gear in one of the saddlebags so when I returned to the parking lot with a bag of apples, 2 quarts of Soy Milk, a bunch of bananas, two large containers of Cranberry Juice, two tubs of Blueberry Yogurt & 3 quarts of skim milk I had myself quite a job stuffing into ,& tying stuff onto, the Motorcycle. We all made it safely home albeit a few bruised bananas. And nuts, I didn’t think to take a few pics of my precarious load.

NORTHERN FLICKER

Had us one mighty hot & humid day going on so I cranked the A/C for the first time this year. That now makes it official…………I can comfortably beginning complaining about another hot summer season again. Yahouie Louie, let the griping begin:))

OUR IRIS FLOWERS ARE FINALLY OUT

In Saturday’s post, JUDY suggested, in a comment, that I had a contradiction of terms in a statement I made. My statement was, “"But, knowing ourselves as well as I do, I also know, that by now our minds would be once again evolving towards towards ‘something different. Not being a creature of ‘same old, same old’ it’s just the way I am & it’s just the way we are”:)) Judy’s question was: ‘Is that not a contradiction to buying a house in AZ? Just curious about how you think you'll feel after a few winter trips there.’

ANOTHER SPLASH DOWN FOR POPPA GOOSE…MOMMA GOOSE IS STILL ON THE NEST
First, let me define the word, ‘evolve’: To develop or achieve gradually: evolve a style of one's own.

DEER PARK LODGE…..WE SURE LOVE THE COLOR GREEN IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS

I think what Judy is getting at is this….if we have been getting a little tired of traveling to the same old places, won’t we get tired of going to our Congress house winter after winter too?? Yes, the excitement & newness of a house in the southwest will wear off after awhile for sure, but there is a difference here. First, at this stage of our RV lifestyle, our intentions are not to just go to our Congress house & sit there for the winter. How boring would that be!! That eventually may happen but our traveling minds are just not there yet & we are still in basic traveling Snow Bird mode. Remember, this is an evolving process for us. I have used the term ‘home base’ to describe our place & for now & until things change we intend to use our Congress location as a base for future travels around the southwest. We hope to work away at the house for awhile, take a few weeks to travel off somewhere, a few more weeks or month at the house, some more time on the road, etc. I think that should make for a very interesting & adventurous winter for us between house & travels. It will be something different, & for me, that is the key:))

KELLY PICKED UP A FEW ITEMS AT A BAYFIELD YARD SALE TODAY….CAN YOU GUESS WHERE THEY ARE HEADED?? YEP, ARIZONA:))

If one thing is for sure, it is simply the fact that ‘nothing is for sure.’ If, in the future we tire completely of the Congress house & find out our home base plan is not turning out how we expected, we will simply stick the ‘For Sale’ sign back in the ground & move on to whatever & wherever our minds our heading next. I remember well about half a dozen years ago going round & round in circles trying to decide if we should sink some major money into an RV. What about going south for the winters? What about this, what about that, what if, what if?? Decisions were finally reached & we have been evolving ever since. Our Congress house is just another in a series of steps in the continuing process. I know where we were 5 years ago & I know where we are know. I do not have clue where we will be in 5 years from now but I do rest comfortably in the thought that it will probably not voluntarily be, ‘same old stuff, same old location’ day after day!!

MOURNING DOVES

Ok, why Congress Arizona & not somewhere else? First, right off the top, let me tell you that we landed in Congress last March by accident & not by design. Had we not run into our little Saturday morning fiasco in Lake Havasu & re-routed ourselves a week later we probably never would have been in the Congress/Wickenburg area at all. It was just kind of a fluke. As mentioned in Saturday's post, Kelly always checks the Real Estate market in any area we travel to & sure enough, after a few days boondocked between Congress & Wickenburg a house of interest popped up. Already having decided we liked the area we decided to have a look & you know the rest of the story up till now.

AZALEA FLOWER >>>

After checking my Atlas one day early on, I realized Congress was ideally situated just about right smack dab in the center of the whole southwest area we liked so much. New Mexico, Arizona, & California. Although north of Phoenix it was still in the warmer temperate desert climate for the winters. And yet just a 15 minute drive north of our house & up atop the Weaver Mountains plateau was a completely different landscape with a completely different climate. Wow, how great was that. We could be in the totally dry Sonoran desert with Saguaro cactus in our front yard & yet just a short 15 minutes later we could be in a mountainous Pine forest with possible snow on the ground. Reminded me so much of my 3 years living in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley back in the early 70's.

<<< DEER PARK

RETIRED ROD, in his comment says, "Have you ever actually slept a night in the Congress House? I thought you were sleeping in the motorhome when you were there. So you can't sell it yet, until you spend a night in it"!! Now, there is a scary point. No, for the short duration we were at the house in March we stayed in our Motorhome, mainly because we had no beds in the house. But, here's the scary part. What if the house turns out to be haunted by the ghost of the old gold miner who originally built it. Yikes!! Our place is located on a two mile long dead end road. We are about half way. South end of Ghost Town Road starts in Congress & the north end stops at the rocky Congress Gold Mine. That Gold Mine was the driving force behind the old dusty town of Congress years ago & the feller who built our house, worked in that Gold Mine just a mile up the road. Guess we'll find out in the fall if anything goes 'creak' in the night. Say, I wonder if maybe he might have stashed a few bags of gold nuggets under the floor. And, just as soon as I can get myself back into 'reading mode' again I will certainly be reading up on all the old wild west history of the area. And, from what I understand, there is lots to read about. Maybe not the colorful cast of Tombstone characters or legendary historic names like Cochise & Geronimo, but I'm sure the area has had it's period of wild west desperados & nefarious characters. After all, it is the great American west:))

OUR BAYFIELD BACKYARD JUNGLE IS FILLING IN QUITE NICELY
We welcome PAT BROOKS aboard today as our first Blog Follower to break our list’s 500 mark. Nice to have you along Pat & congrats on getting through Google’s hoops & barrels to finally get yourself on board:))

GROANER’S GROANER:(( Howard County Police officers still write their reports by hand, and the data is entered later by a computer tech into their database. One theft report stated that a farmer had lost 2,025 pigs. Thinking that to be an error, the tech called the farmer directly.
"Is it true Mr. (Smith) that you lost 2,025 pigs?" she asked.
"Yeth." lisped the farmer.
Being a Howard County girl herself, the tech entered: "Subject lost 2 sows and 25 pigs."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

OUR RV LIFESTYLE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

WINTER MEMORIES NEAR DESERT CENTER, CALIFORNIA…FEB. 14TH 2012
It was a warm summer’s morn in May we had going for us today when Pheebs & I headed for Mitchell Ontario. Kelly had to work all day & it was my Uncle Harry’s 96th Birthday. Harry likes those solar light Butterflies that glow & change color in the night. He had some outside his care facility window but they didn’t winter well so Pheebs & I took him some new ones today for his Birthday. His voice sounded weaker but he had the biggest smile on his face I have ever seen when he saw the Pheebs beside his chair. In the last few years, Harry, with help from a friend, was able to make it up to our place for his Birthday but just not quite enough strength this year. Maybe next year.

<<< WAITING IN THE HALL FOR UNCLE HARRY TO BRUSH HIS TEETH THIS MORNING
It was Janna’s thoughts at TIN TEEPEE/LOG CABIN this morning that gave me the idea for today’s blog. As stated in her post, their priorities are changing & their RVing lifestyle is evolving. We have always kept track of Mike & Janna because we are kind of like minded folks in many ways.

We found the first 3 years or so of our RV travels to be the most exciting because everything was so new to us. Nothing seems to compare with that ‘first time’ excitement of seeing & doing something totally new & wonderfully different. We loved all the places we went & have enjoyed returning to many of those places in these following years. But, after awhile the newness & excitement wears off a bit & it’s not quite the same as those first few discovery times somewhere. We were both becoming aware of that in our last couple years of Snow Bird travel.

OUR GREENING COUNTRYSIDE
Borrego Springs California is a perfect example of the change in our RVing lifestyle. One of our all time favorite places to go & hang out for awhile, we have been there every winter for the past 5 years. First 3 years were great but noticed the last couple of years the newness was wearing off & it didn’t quite hold the same charming excitement for us the first 3 years did. Borrego Springs wasn’t changing….we were.

PHEEBS & HER PAL, BRONSON, TAKE A SHORT BREAK BETWEEN A RAMBUNCTIOUS FROLIC THIS MORNING
I think it was round about the time we came across the Lazy W Ranch near Elfrida Arizona two winters ago that we began to see a slightly different RVing future shaping up for ourselves. I well remember my excitement at the thoughts of all the creative work projects I could involve myself in on this picturesque little Ranch in the shadow of the Swiss Helm mountains tucked away in the southeast corner of the State. We also began to realize the advantages of having some kind of home base somewhere in the southwest. That little 40 acre Ranch that I loved so much was financially way over our heads, but it caused us to think ahead, & the seeds of change were planted.

LAZY W RANCH NEAR ELFRIDA, ARIZONA FEB 17TH 2011
Whenever we traveled to a new area one of the first things Kelly always did was to get on the computer & check out the local Real Estate listings & prices for house’s & properties. In the last couple years we found ourselves talking more & more about our RVing priorities & found ourselves driving around looking at more & more listings for sale. With the current housing market in the States we couldn’t believe how cheaply Real Estate was selling for, and this of course had a big influence on our planning & decision making. When we came across the deal in Congress, we knew we just couldn’t pass this one up.
---

CLARK DRY LAKE BED NEAR BORREGO SPRINGS……..FEBRUARY 8/2012
Ideally, we had been looking for a small one story Ranch house style place, with some out buildings on about 5 acres of land with no signs of any visible neighbors. That is not quite what we ended up with but we had to be realistically practical & not get ourselves into a financial situation way over our heads. We had to make a few concessions. In the end, we simply bought a little house on 1 acre of land that we could afford. We do have neighbors & as much as I don’t care for that, there are some common sense advantages to having people close by. But, that’s a topic for another post.

OUR CONGRESS ARIZONA DIGS…..COMPLETE WITH 3 SAGUAROS:)) (photo compliments of Gerrit)
A few years ago I was gung-ho on selling our place in Bayfield & hitting the road full time. Had we done so I’m sure we would have adapted well & would still be out there somewhere thoroughly enjoying the lifestyle. But, knowing ourselves as well as I do, I also know, that by now our minds would be once again evolving towards ‘something different. Not being a creature of ‘same old, same old’ it’s just the way I am & it’s just the way we are:))

OUR HOUSE BEFORE WE HAD THE ADOBE PUT ON JUST DAYS BEFORE OUR ARIZONA DEPARTURE IN MARCH
Shortly, in a future post, I will talk about the logistic side of things & how we are now facing planning decisions on how we are going to best spend our winters mixing our south western sticks & bricks with our ongoing future travel plans. Do we really need the large Motorhome? Are some different vehicles & modes of travel in our future? What about turning around & selling our ‘new to us’ Congress house & making a couple dollars? (yes, that has come up in some conversations) Have we thought any more about selling our place here in Bayfield? And, why did we chose Arizona & that area of Arizona to buy a house? All food for thought & all questions I will be posting thoughts & opinions about soon. Stay tuned:))

WINTER SUNSET AT THE LAZY W RANCH, ARIZONA
GROANER'S CORNER:(( I know I'm pushing the envelope on this one a bit but I did think it was kinda cute.............
Already the father of two rambunctious boys, the husband was thrilled when the doctor announced they were going to have twins this time. He told his wife that she should start thinking of names.
"Well, let's see." she said. "We already have Adolph and Rudolph. How about Getoff and Stayoff!!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A SUCCESSFUL MISSION TO TOWN FOR ME & THE PHEEBS

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:13:00 +0000

SUN UMBRELLAS AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF GUESTS TODAY AT BAYFIELD’S DEER PARK LODGE

Weather is shaping up mighty fine for our long week-end. A touch cool by beach standards but great for anyone working outside in their garden. Not quite enough heat in the air to bring out all the flying insects & buggy-boos but warm enough to be in short sleeves. Very low humidity, & that’s the best:))

SURE DO HAVE SOME NICE CLEAR WATER FOR SWIMMERS ALONG THE SHORES OF LAKE HURON

Pheebs & I flew another successful Jeep mission into & out of Goderich this morning without being shot down by another greasy McDonald’s breakfast. We got in, got our errands done & got out of town before anyone knew we were even there. Stopped at DEER PARK LODGE on the way back because I had a few cottage interiors to photograph. I’ll include a few of those in tonight’s blog plus Pheebs & I hit the beach for a few additional photos.

WEEK-END GUESTS WILL SOON BE ARRIVING

Kelly brought a blog to my attention this morning that she knew I would definitely be interested in. And, I was. This fellow’s COCOONED post certainly did catch my attention. It is not often I read a post by someone who so closely mirrors my own thoughts about our particular style of RVing. I put this couple’s blog on our sidebar because I like their way of RV thinking. You can find them at BOX CANYON BLOG.COM.

CAMPFIRES ON THE BEACH ARE ALWAYS A BIG HIT AT DEER PARK

Neither Kelly or I have ever been big on anniversary or birthday stuff so it’s not something I usually mention in my posts. But, I will make an exception because today we have been married 10 years. No big number to fluff ourselves up about, but considering our very independently different pasts, it is a wonder our paths ever crossed in the first place. But, once those paths did finally cross, it was clear right from the beginning we were two people destined to be together. Our thoughts were alike, our thinking the same. We had both individually embarked on similar paths at different times, searching for the same ‘out of the box’ answers. Didn’t take long after sharing our ideas, ideals, & dreams, that we knew we were in harmony with each other. Kelly has been the one with patience, understanding, fortitude, courage & strength. And, I have been the one with peanut butter sandwiches…………… Oh, & where did we meet? A coffee shop of course:))

I am getting an increased number of ‘Anonymous’ spam in my comments section & am wondering if other Bloggers are being plagued by this as well. My filters are not blocking some of this latest stuff & the spam ends up appearing as a comment. I have to keep checking my Blogger Dashboard in order to delete this garbage. I certainly do not want to go back to those ridiculous Google anti-spam letters people are forced to figure out before leaving a comment. Wondered if anybody had any ideas about this………………..

DEER PARK HAS ONE OF THE LARGEST & BEST PRIVATE SANDY BEACHES ALONG THE LAKE

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Did you know a Man who runs in front of a car gets tired, while a man who runs behind a car gets exhausted. And did you know the old Egyptian archaeologist was upset because his job was in ruins. By the way, what do you call a Ghost with a broken leg?? A Hoblin Goblin of course. And, I bet you didn’t know why the Indians were here first……they had reservations:))

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DARN HOSPITAL!!

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:29:00 +0000

OUR MOTORHOME JUST SEEMS TO GROW BIGGER & BIGGER EVERY YEAR

I was up, out the door, & headed for Stratford by 7:15 this morning. As expected, a beautiful early morning drive through our picturesque & pastoral countryside. Our rural landscape has really greened up with acres & acres of ploughed farmland bordered by forests of Spring foliage. Farmers were already up & on the land with tractors, seeders, fertilizers & manure spreaders. A few pockets of air along the way were a little intense.

A NEWLY SEEDED FIELD STILL BEARS TRACTOR TIRE MARKS
Not too much to tell you about my pre-admit appointment at the Hospital. Registered, went over some paper work & instructions for the surgery day & headed up to the 5th floor Lab. The usual little bottle sample, more blood work & an EKG. Total time in the Hospital was about 1 hour & I was soon back out of the city into my comforting countryside. Dawdled my way back to Bayfield stopping for a few photos along the way.

STRATFORD GENERAL HOSPITAL MAIN ENTRANCE
Sunny day, but still on the cool side. Been tossing around some ideas for a small decorative privacy piece for one end of our house so I may, or may not pick up a few pieces of lumber for the project. I really do need some kind of creative project to get my mind focused on. I well remember the great month of March I had at our Arizona house. Cleaning inside, painting kitchen cabinets, cleaning up the yard, planting cactus & just generally being excited about having half a dozen little creative projects on the go.

OUR LILACS ARE IN BLOOM

I like jobs I can do totally by myself. Just as I am not good as a passenger in a car, I am not good at being a helper. Either I drive the car or I do the project all by myself. Same as riding a motorcycle or driving an ATV. If I'm not in control of handling the machine....I'm not on it!! By the same token, standing around handing someone a hammer or holding a board here & there doesn't work for me. I've never been a 'team member' kind of guy.

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN IN OUR CARPORT

We are on the verge of our big May 24th week-end in Canada. This is the biggy of the year & the one that officially kicks off the summer. It's a big booze party week-end for a lot of kids so always a good week-end to stay off the highways & away from the beach party hot spots. Grand Bend, just a few miles south of us has always been party central for teen-agers for as long as I can remember. (According to Wikipedia, Grand Bend's year-round population of 2,000 people swells to about 50,000 in the summer months on holiday weekends.) A rowdy place at times & I remember the days many years ago when I was a part of that rowdiness. Never did get myself into any kind of serious trouble but did spend a night in the Grand Bend drunk tank & a couple days in the Sarnia County Jail one time for some kind of alcohol related offence. Can't remember what it was anymore. Because of the number of teen-agers, the Police don't fool around in Grand Bend. You break the law....you go to jail right quick. They have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol, or at least they did 45 years ago. Every May 24th I think about those bad old zany crazy days way back when.

SAILBOATS AWAITING THEIR SUMMER IN THE WATER

I recall being asked by a commenter awhile back if I take photos for the DEER PARK LODGE website. Answer to that is yes, I do take ‘some’ of them. Most of the cottage interior shots are mine, as well as some of the outside ones. A few of my photos are in the slideshow at the top of their home page.

SUNDOWN AT DEER PARK LODGE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Prosecutor: Did you kill the victim?
Defendant: No, I did not.
Prosecutor: Do you know what the penalties are for perjury?
Defendant: Yes, I do. And they're a hell of a lot better than the penalty for murder.
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED…BUT, I HAVE A THEORY

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:10:00 +0000

Happy to say I was feeling much better this morning than I was last night when I went to bed. Thanks to everyone for your concerned comments. Not exactly sure what happened Monday afternoon but I have a feeling now it may have had something to do with either the new Crestor cholesterol drug I just started or the Nortriptyline drug I just came off. The Nortrip med was prescribed for my leg pains several weeks ago & I was on it for 2 weeks. This drug is also known to have some mental affecting properties as well. Although I felt no different taking these pills for a couple of weeks I am wondering if my abruptly stopping them Sunday night knocked me for a loop. Monday about noon it was if someone opened a big flood valve in the bottom of my foot & all my energy immediately drained right out of me. Spent most of the afternoon & evening in a both mentally & physically lethargic state in my chair. No physical energy to get out of the chair & no mental energy to even want to get out of the chair.

Got a call from the Goderich Hospital yesterday setting me up an appointment to meet with a Dr. Annan. He is the same surgeon who removed a lesion on my left temple a few years back. He’ll have a look at what I now have on my right temple on May 23rd. Counting my blood work stops I am now over a dozen medical appointments & procedures for the month of May alone. But, that’s all Ok because I want to get as much of everything done as soon as possible so that nothing is left standing in the way of our departure for the Southwest in October.

CAN YOU TURN THAT CAMERA FLASH OFF DAD

LAP DOG EXTRAORDINAIRE

Headed for the Clinton Hospital this morning because I had an Ultra-Sound scheduled for 9:30 regarding my Kidney Stone locations. I kind of like those Ultra-Sound procedures. Very relaxing. Once again laid on my left side/right side in a darkened room. The operator & her young trainee sat beside the bed at a computer. She places some kind of a small scanner in a pool of ‘cold’ jelly on my abdomen & slowly moves it from one location to another with her hand, all the time watching her computer monitor & speaking lowly to the trainee. I felt like a Mouse Pad & someone was scrolling a Mouse around on me. Like I said, very relaxing & maybe even bordering on soothing. Who wouldn’t like a nice warm computer mouse slowly rolled around on their tummy eh. The scan only lasted about 15 minutes which was less than half the time my Ultra-Sound in Tucson took last December. And, unlike the Tucson operator, this lady had nothing to say after the scan. I’m still wondering why the Tucson tech told me I was….’a special case.’

‘ANOTHER’ WAITING ROOM….DR. PHIL WAS ON THE TELEVISION BUT I CHOSE TO SPEND MY TIME MORE CONSTRUCTIVELY, PLAYING WITH THE KID’S COLORFUL TOY IN THE FOREGROUND.

Tuesday morning, before I had my energy collapse, I did manage to get a little cleaning done on the Motor Home. Remembered the big shiny wheels hadn't been scrubbed up since getting home back at the beginning of April so with a bit of soap & water I turned those big chrome wheels from dirty gray to shiny chrome. Also tackled the front of the coach with some wax. Although more labor intensive I still do prefer the shine & finish wax leaves on the fiberglass rig as opposed to, ‘The Solution’. I do like the Solution for cleaning the motorcycle though & I've used it a few times on the Jeep. Kelly was very impressed with it when she did her Santa Fe a few weeks ago.

Today’s much cooler & grayer day had me trying to catch up on some lost sleep again. Guess I just must be some kind of a Night Owl or something. Did a bunch of weed whacking & Pheebs took me for an afternoon walk around the forest trail.

MY YEARS OF CARRYING A CLIPPERS ON OUR MORNING WALK HAS SLOWLY TRANSFORMED OUR MORNING TRAIL INTO A GREEN TUNNEL THROUGH THE FOREST…& KELLY TAKES ANOTHER WORK CALL THIS MORNING

And, a few thoughts on prescription drugs & holistic medicines etc. etc. Somewhere between the extremes of poo pooing holistic drugs at one end & prescription drugs at the other end lies a common sense path through the maze of thoughts & opinions. Of paramount importance is the understanding that not everyone is the same & what works for one person may very well not work for another. Body tolerances & chemistry vary from individual to individual. Ignoring a Doctor's advice is just about as risky as believing everything you read on the internet. And, by the way, I have made both those mistakes. I believe my cholesterol problem to be genetic. I have tried many ways to get my cholesterol under control over the years without success. Losing weight, changing eating habits, cholesterol fighting supplements, etc. Nothing ever worked & my numbers have remained high for many years. I just chose to ignore those numbers.

<<< BESIDE OUR FRONT YARD POND

Over the years & against Doctor's recommendations I have avoided all cholesterol medications because I have this 'thing' about taking pills & medications. Might be kind of a guy's thing. Well, sometimes some of us more stubborn critters just have to get ourselves smartened up a bit & make some changes whether we like it or not. Heart attacks & strokes are the common result of cholesterol build up in the arteries & it is 'having a stroke' that scares me the most. The thoughts of being incapacitated & hanging out of a wheel chair in a nursing home totally dependent on people to feed me etc is just too scary a thought for me to comprehend. Not to mention the burden it would put on family. So, I guess what I am saying is that one has to be open minded in one's own treatment. First, we have to accept the aging process & admit that we do have related problems occurring. Second, we have to be open minded enough to understand the pros & cons of treatment, whatever side of the coin recommendations & advice come from. Somewhere through the maze of 'treatments' lies everyone's individual path & it is up to each person to be open minded enough to make the correct decisions & find their own wellness way through the maze of opinions. And, speaking of opinions.....Ok, I won't speak of opinions:))

FROG POT

Believe it or not but early tomorrow morning I have to be at the Stratford Hospital in Stratford Ontario for something they call a ‘pre-op. Not sure what that one is all about but I suspect it is going to result in me losing some blood to one of them darn needle things again. Who knows what else I’ll have to give them. Best part of that appointment is going to be the nice country drive to & from Stratford which is about an hour east of us.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man visits the doctor for a check-up, and after some tests, the doctor comes in with a grave look on his face.
Doctor: Well, I have some bad news and some really bad news.
Man: Well, give me the really bad news first.
Doctor: You have cancer, and only 6 months to live.
Man: And the bad news?
Doctor: You have Alzheimer's disease.
Man: That's great. I was afraid I had cancer!

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

NOT QUITE UP TO PAR

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:15:00 +0000

TREE TRUNKS IN A SWAMP (BAYFIELD BUNCH FILE PHOTO)

Just not feeling up to putting a post together tonight.

AWWW NUTS, JUST BORING MEDICAL STUFF TODAY:((

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:39:00 +0000

JUST OUTSIDE OUR SUN ROOM

A fine Spring morning saw me on my way to Goderich for my 9 a.m. Nurse Practitioner appointment. Surprised at very few people in the Medical Center waiting room. Last time there it was packed full of folks.

OH NO, NOT THE DREADED EXAMINATION TABLE AGAIN…SAY IT ISN’T SO, SAY IT ISN’T SO:((
All my test results were back & I was in for some changes. Overall, things were looking not too bad. Blood work showed most things were in good shape but after dodging high cholesterol levels for years, today was the day of reckoning. I could no longer talk my way around the obvious & beginning this morning I am now on a drug called Crestor to do for me what I obviously have not been able to do for myself. Bugs me like nuts to be dependant on pills but there is no way of getting around this aging nonsense.

X-rays & Ultra-Sound of my legs did not show anything abnormal & she was encouraged by the fact my legs have been pain free for two weeks. She said to stop the Nortriptyline meds & see how the legs do. I had no side effects from that drug at all but I'm glad to be off it, simply because it's a drug that is not necessary in my system. Blood pressure has been coming in on the high side the last few appointments so that may become a concern at some point in the future. Always had perfect blood pressure years ago. Nuts!! And, I was OK'd for the Kidney Stone surgery at the end of the month.

OUR BACKYARD FERNS ARE DOING WELL
However, I now have another dark horse standing on the sidelines. I have a small lesion on my right temple. Just discovered it in my hairline a couple weeks ago. That, plus another one on my chest are suspect, so arrangements are underway for me to see another specialist. I had a similar lesion surgically removed from my left temple 3 or 4 years ago so I suspect this will go the same route. Gotta watch out for those 'dark horses' standing in the wings alright.

KELLY HANDLES AN EARLY MORNING DEER PARK LODGE CALL WHILE ON OUR MORNING WALK
My next medical appointment is early Wednesday morning when I will undergo another Ultra-Sound on my abdomen regarding just where all those Kidney Stones are hiding out. First Ultra-Sound I had was in Tucson last December. Doc Robot needs to know what challenges lay ahead of him in a couple weeks. I already know what challenges lay ahead for me. I gotta dump some of this excess weight I have been carrying around for way too long now. Oh how I wanted to stop at McDonald's for a sausage & egg McMuffin this morning, followed by a carrot muffin. It was quite a tussle I had with myself as I wrestled my way right on by the big golden arches.

IN OUR FRONT YARD BUT CANNOT REMEMBER IT’S NAME

Sorry to turn this whole post into a boring medical report but if it wasn't for that I really wouldn't have had much to say for today. Other than Pheebs & I doing a second walk around the trail this afternoon it has been a quiet day. Sat down in my recliner about 11:55 to have a quick peak at the noon news & woke up at 2:30. Never did see the news but that's alright because it was probably just another bunch of Bobble heads jabbering & giggling back & forth anyway.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it… don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap:))

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

PHEEBS & I TAKE A DRIVE OVER TO DEER PARK LODGE

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:54:00 +0000

TODAY’S QUIET DEER PARK LODGE WILL SOON BE ABUZZ WITH SUMMER COTTAGERS

Overnight rains freshened things up for today’s late morning sunshine. Managed to get a few more windows cleaned. Kelly worked again today so Pheebs & I took a drive over to see her at Deer Park Lodge. Nice time of year there because it’s not the busy season yet so hardly anyone around. During the summer all cottages are fully booked up with mainly families on vacation. Many come here year after year & one group of Priests have been coming every summer for over 20 years. These fellows always put on a big fireworks display on the beach. All are welcome.

FIREWORKS PHOTOS I TOOK IN JULY/08 AT THE PRIESTS ANNUAL FIREWORKS BASH ON THE BEACH

Kelly, Pheebs & I walked down to the beach. As usual, Lake Huron was adorned in her finest blue & green marine colors. Only one boat visible far out on the lake. Took a few photos around the grounds & included some in today’s post. And, to answer a question about the nearest Airport to our side of Lake Huron I would say Detroit Michigan or London, Ontario.

LAKE LEVELS ARE DOWN THIS YEAR…WATER’S EDGE USED TO BE WHERE THOSE STONES ARE

WASHROOM ON THE BEACH…………..KELLY & PHEEBS WALK BY THE BEACH CABANA

THE GOOD LUCK DUCK left a comment on my Saturday post which straightened me out on a few things & had me scrambling for a dictionary this morning. The comment read: “The Amish and the Mennonites had common origins, but are no longer the same group. While the Mennonites have branched further, and accept differing degrees of "modernization," the Amish retain fairly constant modes of life. Mennonites have churches, Amish meet in homes. Some Mennonites proselytize, Amish don't”.

KELLY WAS WORKING AROUND THIS POOL AREA TODAY

NEW POND & WATERFALL UNDER CONSTRUCTION THIS YEAR

My dictionary scramble lead me to this word.......'Proselytize' : to induce someone to convert to one's faith : to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause : to recruit or convert especially to a new faith, institution, or cause.

NICE VIEWS OF THE LAKE FROM SOME OF THE COTTAGES

And, one more quick correction. Apparently there are some States that do have mandatory helmet laws for motorcycle riders. I had assumed (awww, there I go again) there were no mandatory laws for wearing helmets south of the border.

Off to Goderich in the morning to see my Nurse Practitioner. Originally this was my pre-op appointment before kidney stone surgery but she will also go over the results of my X-rays & Doppler Ultra-Sound last week. My legs have been much better the last couple of weeks & I don’t know if it’s the pills she put me on or my legs are just plum scared. Guess I’ll find out in the morning, what, if anything, showed up in those tests. Tomorrow’s medical appointment will be the first of three this week. Oh joy:((

GREAT PLACE TO WATCH FIERY SUNSETS OVER LAKE HURON

GROANER’S CORNER:((

Two cannibals meet one day. The first cannibal says, "You know, I just can't seem to get a tender missionary. I've baked 'em, I've roasted 'em, I've stewed 'em, I've barbequed 'em, I've even tried every sort of marinade. I just cannot seem to get them tender."
The second cannibal asks, "What kind of missionary do you use?"
The other replied, "You know, the ones that hang out at that place at the bend of the river. They have those brown cloaks with a rope around the waist and their sort of bald on top with a funny ring of hair on their heads."
"Ah ha!" he replies. "No wonder.. those are friars!"

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

ANSWERING A FEW COMMENTER’S QUESTIONS TONIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:44:00 +0000

Had ourselves a mighty fine weather morning so figured I'd better spend a few hours on the bike before some predicted grumpy weather reaches us shortly. Again, just a nice Saturday morning cruise through the quiet countryside taking in all the Spring scenery. Noticed some farm fields with corn already sprouting up about 3" already. We are fortunate here in southern Ontario to have so many paved back roads criss-crossing our forested rural farm fields. Spent some time in the afternoon cleaning more chrome on the bike.

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Motorcycle helmets are mandatory here in Ontario & probably all across Canada. I’m sure there are countless Sons, Dads, Brothers, Uncles, & friends alive today because someone or a group of someone’s in our Government were wise enough to push for that law. Having survived a motorcycle crash in the summer of 95 I well understand the importance of wearing a helmet. When in the States I constantly see motorcyclists riding with no helmets. In fact, I would say the majority of riders I see, do not wear helmets. I wonder how many Sons, Dads, Brothers, Uncles, & friends would still be with their families today if they had just simply wore a motorcycle helmet on what turned out to be their last ride. What is so hard about understanding that. Why is it so hard, for so many men, to understand some of the simplest logical things…………….

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Commenter Pat B had a question a few days ago about finding the Blog Follower list on this site. All the thumbnails underneath our top header photo were not showing up for her. Only thing I can think of is, you probably have a slower connection Pat & it will take longer for those Blog Follower thumbnails to load. I didn’t include a lot of big photos tonight so maybe that Followers list will open for you now:))

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Yes, I know it would take less time for the list to load if I were to return it to our sidebar where I used to have it. I could eliminate the large header photo at the top, get rid of all the colored text & change my wider blog template back to a narrow white background with smaller black print & just include maybe half a dozen small photos. That would certainly speed up the download process & solve problems for folks with slower speeds. It would also be a help to folks with air cards with limited bandwidth. That is how I started out & if I went back to that format…..well, it just wouldn’t look like my Blog, would it. I have my finger’s crossed that speeds will get faster & bandwidths will get larger:))

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Commenter Butterbean landed some questions on me tonight as well so let’s see what I can come up with in the way of answers for him. Butterbean asks: “How does Kelly work from Arizona & then have to work 10 hours a day when she's at 'home'?? I thought Mennonites were like Amish, they worked in wood not plastic”!! ----- Deer Park Lodge where Kelly works is basically closed for the winter season. Guests generally begin booking their cottage rentals for the following summer during the winter. This is where Kelly comes in. All incoming phone calls to Deer Park Lodge are forwarded to Kelly’s Deer Park telephone. She has the registration books with her & arranges all the bookings as to who is going to stay where, for how long, & when during the summer. She also fields general questions anyone may have about Deer Park as well. Many times at the end of a call the caller will ask, ‘how’s the weather there today? Kelly always checks Bayfield’s weather every morning so without missing a beat she will give them a weather report. Little does the caller know they are actually talking to someone in Arizona, California, New Mexico or wherever. Her work phone can ring at any time. We might be up a mountain trail hiking when the phone rings or maybe in Walmart picking up a few groceries. One time we were walking in a cemetery in Pearce Arizona.

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I remember another particular time this past winter when we were nearly to the top of HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN in our Jeep. We were struggling over a real tough rocky section of road beside a very steep drop off. Just as I halted the Jeep to regain a lower gear, the phone rang. Yikes!!!! I had to hold that position with my foot hard on the brake while Kelly took the call which turned out to be lady in Montreal with a whole bunch of questions about the cottages, beach, the town of Bayfield etc. Had I moved forward the call could easily have been dropped. We were surprised to get the call in the first place considering our location. Seemed like that conversation went on forever as our brakes held us from tumbling backwards down the road. in fact, I took a picture of Kelly while on the phone and you can see that photo on my post for that day detailing our rough & tumble drive. JEEPING TO HARQUAHALA PEAK .

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Now, to answer Butterbean’s second part to that first question. Because Deer Park Lodge is in the summer cottage industry in our touristy area, it has to deal with the public on a daily basis, so basically there are no real set hours because public needs change from day to day. Hour to hour at times. It was Kelly’s first day back & she had a lot of re-organizing to do. Also, the comfort of guests always comes first with her & she will work long hard hours to satisfy people’s needs. She is jack of all trades there & wears many varied work hats in any one given day. She is the Manager. Sometimes our phone here at home might ring at 11 at night because somebody has locked themselves out of their cottage. Kelly will get up & drive over to let them in. And, probably asks if there is anything else she can help them with while there.

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Butterbean’s last question might have me on the ropes. First, I made an assumption the Mennonites had made those colorful plastic chairs in the blog Friday. But, second guessing myself now, I am wondering if the chairs are maybe made in a factory somewhere & the Mennonite folks have agreed to sell them. Yes, yes, I know what it means to ass-ume something. I will try to find out the correct answer to that question. But I know the words Mennonite & plastic just don’t seem to look right in the same sentence. I do think they make wooden furniture right there in St. Joseph though.

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Now, to the last part of the question. Mennonites & Amish are basically the same thing. In the States they are called Amish & here we call them Mennonites. Also, there are varying degrees of Mennonites here. The old order folks have no electricity, transport themselves around in horse & buggy & have their own schools & churches. Another order has electricity & modern conveniences but will only drive black cars & some will even paint the chrome on the cars black. The newer order of Mennonite folks live among the rest of us, dress like us & have all the modern conveniences. They do stick to their own religious beliefs & churches though. Now, hope I have that all right or I am going to have a horse & buggy roll up to my door with some angry folks in it to straighten me out..again:((

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JANNA'S experience with ‘feeling sick’ over the thoughts she may have lost a customer’s quilt, rang a bell for me this morning. Back in the mid 80’s I had a small business called, ‘Memories’. Customer’s brought me their old black & white priceless aging family photographs. Using a very sharp lens I re-photographed those old prints, processed the film in my darkroom & went on to laboriously hand make new prints (no easy computer stuff in those days) for folks, which in essence extended the life & memories of older faded & deteriorating photographs for many decades to come. I also gave customers the new negatives as well.
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A friend of mine brought in a small black & white print his Mother had reluctantly given him. It was the only picture of a family member she had. In the 5 years I had my ‘Memories’ business & out of countless old photos I re-did for folks, that was the only photograph I ever lost. That was about 27 years ago & I can tell you, I still sometimes think about, & feel bad about, losing that lady's one single irreplaceable family photo to this very day.

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A cold front brought in a rainy drizzle this afternoon & that pretty much ended my outside Saturday afternoon. Upside of that....got to watch 2 Family Guys back to back. Yaaay Jimbo. Is it October yet:((

WHAT!!!!!!! WHO SAID THAT??

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Dear Child,
I am writing this slow because I know that you can't read fast.
We don't live where we did when you left home.
Your dad read in the paper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from your home so we moved.
I won't be able to send you the address, as the last family that lived here took the house numbers when they left so that they wouldn't have to change their address.
This place is real nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure if it works too well though.
Last week I put a load in, pulled the chain, and haven't seen them since.
The weather isn't too bad here. it only rained twice last week, The first time it rained for three days and the second time for four days. The coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Steve said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets. We got another bill from the funeral home.
They said if we don't make the last payment on Grandma's grave, up she comes. John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were worried because it took him two hours to get me and Shelby out.
Your sister had a baby this morning but I haven't found out what it is yet, so I don't know if you're an aunt or an uncle. If the baby is a girl, your sister is going to name it after me, she's going to call it Mom.
Uncle Pete fell in a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out but he fought them off and drowned. We had him cremated and he burned for three days.
Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up truck. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your two friends were in the back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down.
There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.
PS, I was going to send you some money but the envelope was already sealed.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

A SUNNY DAY TRILLIUM WALK IN THE FOREST

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Despite another sunny day, temperatures are still a tad cool here right next to Lake Huron, the third-largest fresh-water lake on Earth. Ignoring the cooler air I did spend about 40 minutes on the motorcycle late this morning cruising some nearby country roads. Later, Pheebs & I headed off on a nice hour & a half walk through a hardwood forest located next to our morning Pine tree trail. Countless Trillium flowers still abound on the forest floor so I was able catch a few photos. How soothing to hear Spring songbirds high overhead in a tall canopy of newly greening trees.

On my way to Grand Bend Wednesday night I drove through a little place called St. Joseph. There is a building here where our local Mennonite population makes furniture, etc. I couldn't help but notice all the colorful recycled plastic beach chairs on display outside. Not sure if these chairs are actually made at this location but their bold colors certainly did catch my eye in the setting sun.

Just after publishing the Blog Thursday night a movement outside the sunroom window caught my eye. It was dusk & I hadn't brought in the bird feeders yet. There on a branch about 12 feet in front of me was the big rascally Raccoon stealthily reaching down to unhook our largest bird feeder & drop it to the ground. I quickly opened the sunroom's patio door & the Coon leaped from the tree landing on the ground with a thud. He scampered off around the corner of the house into some foliage. As maddening as it is to have a Raccoon around wrecking stuff I was kinda feeling sorry for him & hoping he had not hurt himself when leaping from the tree.

AN ELF’S VIEW FROM ‘UNDERNEATH’ A TRILLIUM

When I first started using Google’s Picasa photo editing program a few years ago I got hooked on pressing the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button. It seemed to instantly make photos look better, or so I thought. Took a long time for me to ‘unhook’ myself from using that button & I never ever use it now. Too often it puts way too much vivid color & contrast into photos giving them an unnatural appearance & color cast. When I look back at my photos from about 3 years ago & beyond I have to give my a head a shake & ask myself, ‘what was I thinking.’ That was my Picasa ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ era. Whenever I decide to use one of my photos from those years I generally have to now drag it back into Picasa & re-do it with my newer way of thinking & editing.

SOMETHING HAS GONE TO SEED BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS, POSSIBLY A DANDELION

Nowadays, the Picasa photo editing button I use first with every photo is ‘Auto Contrast.’ This is my starting point & from here I move on to whatever else has to be done to give the photo it’s natural look. I fiddle back & forth with the following buttons until I have what I want. Straighten-Auto Color-Retouch-Sharpen-Saturation-Glow-Graduated Tint & Lighting, using Fill Light, Highlights, Shadows, & Color Temperature. My advice to anyone wanting to significantly improve their photos using Picasa is to back off that, ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button & start with 'Auto Contrast' next time & work on your photo from there.

TOOK THIS PHOTO IN OUR BACK YARD THIS AFTERNOON & WHAT LOOKS LIKE A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD AT TOP LEFT IS ACTUALLY PART OF A SAGUARO CACTUS SKELETON WE BROUGHT BACK FROM ARIZONA…PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS LOWER RIGHT

SOMETIMES WHILE LYING ON THE GROUND TRYING TO TAKE A PICTURE OF A FLOWER, THIS GREAT BIG DOGGY MONSTER COMES ALONG & TRAMPLES ON MY SUBJECT….AND SOMETIMES ME TOO
It was Kelly's first official working day back at Deer Park Lodge and it turned out to be a long one with her putting in 10 hours. With more upcoming medical appoints next week, Pheebs is going to have to adjust to being alone for a bit now. Not one of her favorite things I can assure you.

THE TRILLIUM FLOWER IS ONTARIO’S FLORAL EMBLEM

Going through some old drawers in our shed today looking for some mis-placed TV cables I came across an old tune up bill from Ruby's Garage in my hometown of Tavistock Ontario. Bill was dated March 16th 1967. I have had soooooo many vehicles over the years I cannot remember what I was driving at the time but I'm guessing it might have been a Ford Falcon. Here is the itemized bill........

6 Spark Plugs --- $6.00

1 set of Points -- $2.70

1 Condenser ---- $1.35

1 Fan Belt ------- $2.65

$12.70

Tax .64

Tune up & check

for floor shift --- $5.00

Total ------------$18.34

It would be interesting to know what that same bill would be at today's prices. Not sure if Points & Condensers are even used anymore.

Here’s something that may be of interest to all you diesel pusher drivers. Peter over at AMERICAN TRAVELER has a hard time staying warm while driving his rig in cold weather. With the heat sourcing engine in the back of the rig he’s having difficulty getting any hot air up front. I’m sure he would welcome any helpful thoughts or suggestions about that.

TRILLIUMS NESTLED UNDER THE UMBRELLA LIKE MAY APPLES
SUE & MO are still busy out there in Oregon tracking down covered bridges. You will find some mighty fine bridge photos on their site as the Gals travel around in their RV.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Many of us "Old Folks" (those over 60, WAY over 60, or hovering near 60) are quite confused about how we should present ourselves. We're unsure about the kind of image we are projecting and whether or not we are correct as we try to conform to current fashions. Despite what you may have seen on the streets, the following combinations DO NOT go together and should be avoided:
1. A nose ring and bifocals
2. Spiked hair and bald spots
3. A pierced tongue and dentures
4. Miniskirts and support hose
5. Ankle bracelets and corn pads
6. Speedo's and cellulite
7. A belly button ring and a gall bladder surgery scar
8. Unbuttoned disco shirts and a heart monitor
9. Midriff shirts and a midriff bulge
10. Bikinis and liver spots
11. Short shorts and varicose veins
12. Inline skates and a walker
13. Thongs and Depends.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

AWWWW NUTS, WHERE DID 12,668 PHOTOS JUST GO????

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:46:00 +0000

A SUNSET GLOW ON GRAND BEND’S MARINA…THERE IS A CAMERA IN THE TOP WINDOW OF THAT LIGHTHOUSE & WE CLICK ON THIS GRAND BEND WEATHER CAM WHEN DOWN SOUTH IN THE WINTER TO CHECK ON WHAT THE WEATHER IS DOING BACK HOME. IF YOU CLICK IT & GET A BLACK IMAGE IT JUST MEANS IT’S NIGHT TIME:)) NIKON D-40 AT 250mm

There is a song entitled, 'What A Difference A Day Makes' & I was reminded of that when I got up this morning feeling much better after a reasonably good night's sleep. Lack of sleep always puts me in such a funk the following day both mentally & physically. When I think of the bad old days & partying till 2,3, or 4 in the morning & then going to work at 7 it just makes me shake my head at the naivety of all those wasted years. But, I guess we thought it fun at the time eh.
<<< LIFEGUARD TOWER & LIGHTHOUSE PIER TO THE LEFT
Posted Wednesday night's Blog early, grabbed my cameras & headed out the door to see if I could catch me a sunset over the lake. After letharging around all day it was nice to get out for some fresh air. And boy was that air cold. Coupled with gusting high winds coming in across Lake Huron it reminded me of a winter’s day. Drove down to Grand Bend about 18 miles south of us & parked on the beach. Saw a couple guys with wet suits on, windsurfing. Egads, they must be freezing. It was so cold I had to put my hands in my pockets between taking photos. Even a short walk out on the pier had me chilled to the bone.

A WINDSURFER FILLS HIS CHUTE WITH AIR

LOOSING CONTROL & KER-SPLASH INTO THE ICY COLD WATER

I did take one picture of my little upholstery job while doing it Thursday morning but didn't take any of the finished seats. So, upon request, here are the finished chairs. Nothing extra special mind you, but for me any little job like this is always a major accomplishment.....especially if it turns out sorta kinda good that is.

THE CUSHION COLOR IS MORE BURGUNDY AS IN THE LAST PHOTO

Any idea what if feels like to lose over 12,000 photos with just one click of the mouse. Happened to me last night. It's always a tricky bit of stressful business when it comes to moving batches of photos around because I have countless thousands of them here spaced out over 3 computers & an external hard drive. I was in the process of copying this past winter's photos onto that external drive when I decided to create a new folder & drop my 5 winter months photo folders into one location. Highlighted the five & dragged & dropped them into the new folder. Opened the new folder &......nothing there!! What!!!!!! Searched & searched but couldn't find them. I had a feeling they were more misplaced than lost & sure enough this morning when I clicked on my 'Arizona House' folder, there they were. All 5 folders. I had mistakenly dropped them all in my Arizona House folder instead of the new folder I had just created. Can you imagine how sick I was feeling last night thinking I just may have lost 12,668 irreplaceable photos............

<<< I HAVE WALKED TO THE END OF THIS GRAND BEND PIER WITH MANY DIFFERENT FRIENDS OVER THE YEARS

I'm not one to get myself all fancied up before going somewhere. If I can't wear my blue jeans & old rough & tumble shirts, chances are pretty good I will not be going anywhere too darn fancy. I well remember the Sunday morning struggles when I was a small boy being dragged off to Sunday school kicking & screaming. There I was, locked into a stiff starchy white shirt buttoned right to the top choking the life out of me. Always fighting with a set of horrible gold cuff links I hated. And, cinched up in some ill fitting goofy dress pants that I was supposed to return home with in the same immaculately clean state I had left in. Those Sunday morning struggles went on forever & I was always the one who got out-struggled. I think the pattern was set in my brain at an early age. There would be no fancy pants stuff for me as soon as I got big enough to reverse those struggle outcomes. Yes, there were periods in my life where I did adhere to dress codes because after all, one had to look cool through some of those growing up years, right. And I did reluctantly tough out my 'pink & gold period' for a few years. I did blog about that one time as I recall. Pink shirts, white shorts, gold bracelet & neck chain, watch & rings. Oh, how embarrassing for me to look back on what I call my 'pink years' now. No, not real gold, just the cheap trashy stuff that looked like gold. There was no class in this act I can tell ya:)) If by chance anyone is interested in that, you can just click on my…. PINK YEARS.

One of the many things I enjoy about our other lifestyle in the Southwest is the laid back way of thinking there. If I want to stick a banana in my Cowboy had, strap my pants on backwards & wear my shirt upside down, nobody is gonna notice. And if somebody did, they wouldn't care anyway. That's the kind of lifestyle I prefer. No hoity toity fancy stuff. Just wear what you want & go where you think:))

It was a sunny but tad cool day so we slipped down to see Uncle Harry this morning at the Ritz Villa care center. He was in his chair under a blanket feeling a bit on the cold side. Didn't take Pheebs personality long to warm him up. He's still doing pretty good for his age & confining care facility circumstances:))

PHEEBE SCRAMBLES UP TO GIVE HARRY A SMOOCH….KELLY READS AN EARLY BIRTHDAY CARD TO HARRY FROM HIS FRIEND HELEN IN NANAIMO BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Spike & Scooter got into a fight this week & Spike is on the mend right now. But, I'll let RV SUE fill you in on the details. And speaking of RV Sue, I see Chuck & Geri from HAPPY TRAILS have been busy over there in that Utah place scouting out some boondocking sites for Sue, Spike & Bridget. Again, if you wonder why Utah is my favorite scenic State, just have a look at Geri's pictures around the Zion Canyon area. Some foody pics on there for you foody folks too. (oh boy, I am hearing multiple mouse clicks now) Had the weather been warm in southern Utah during the winter months, that's where we would have been looking for a house & property the last couple years. But alas, it gets pretty cold up there in the Zion, Bryce & Moab areas during the winters so we ruled it out. 'Warm' is the key word here at the Bayfield Bunch. From our house in Congress Arizona we can be up into southern Utah in one day’s 450 mile drive. Hubba Bubba no trubba:))

THE LAST PARAGRAPH:……………. :))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Saw this sticker on the back window of a Hummer this morning in Mitchell, Ontario.......

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

KIND OF A LOST DAY

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:43:00 +0000

MOMMA GOOSE STRIKES A LOW PROFILE ON HER NEST THIS MORNING AS POPPA GOOSE QUICKLY FLIES IN TO PROTECT HER FROM THE PAPARAZZI WALKING BY…………..

Well, try as I may tonight I just could not get myself interested in putting my Blog hat on. My creative side was dead in the water & my usual every day writing enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. I’ll just blame it on another poor night’s sleep & our cold gray damp weather & hope for a brighter creatively productive day tomorrow.

Did manage to get one thing out of the way this morning though. Kelly came back from Cambridge the other day with some new material for the seats on our kitchen chairs. With scissors in hand & using the old chair seat material as a pattern, Kelly cut out the first seat cover & I went to work with my staple gun & re-covered the wood based seat. Spurred on by my stapling success, I went on to cut out the other 3 seat covers & reupholstered the rest of the chair seats. Turned out really well if I must say so myself. Even managed to get the seats screwed back on the chairs right side up….now fancy that:))

Happy to say I have had no side effects from the pills I was given for my leg pain last week. Instructions are to double them this week so we’ll see what happens.

Couple new Blog Followers today. SAM LIVINGSTON describes himself as an old man who likes to eat & hike & MARTYYOUNG562 rounds out our Blog Followers list at an even 500. Thanks for dropping by & brightening up my gloomy day folks, much appreciated:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((

LAYING THERE LISTENING TO MY BLOOD SWOOSH AROUND

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:40:00 +0000

A LONE SEAGULL HEADS ACROSS GODERICH’S FOG SHROUDED HARBOR THIS MORNING
Our overnight rain ushered in warmer weather this morning & both those elements are welcome this time of year. Farmers are particularly happy to to get those dry dusty fields moistened up for planting & it was obvious this morning on my way to Goderich farmers have been on the land.

QUIETLY WAITING IN THE HALL FOR MY DOPPLER ULTRA-SOUND >>>
Nothing really exciting about my double Hospital appointment at 8 a.m.. Lower back, leg & knee X-rays took about 5 minutes & my 'Doppler' ultra-sound lasted about 20 minutes. At least that one had some sound to it. I could periodically hear a swish like beating sound coming from the operators computer just off to the right.   I assumed that to be my blood flow pulsating through my legs with ‘every beat of my heart’. Say, I think that was the title of a Rod Stewart song.

TORNADO DAMAGED DOWNTOWN GODERICH CONTINUES TO REBUILD
Checking my watch on the way out of the Hospital I was surprised to see it saying 11:15. Either I had been time warped or the battery had died. Turned out to be the latter. Kind of wished it had been the former. Now, wouldn’t that give a fella something exciting to think about for a change. A quick stop at a local jewellery store downtown Goderich solved the dead watch battery problem for $5.50. From there it was a drive down to the fog shrouded north side of the Goderich harbor to see if I could find me a photo or two. I did, & headed back uptown.

A heavy fog had set in giving tornado ravaged downtown Goderich an eerie look. Once a place of many tall old stately trees, the center of Goderich looks sullenly bare, stripped of all it's foliage & greenery. Gaping holes tell the tale of where buildings once stood. A tall crane lifts materials to a work crew on a damaged roof. Scaffolding up the sides of other buildings in various states of repair. Brown paper still covers some windows & the sounds of hammers & saws inside tell of the repairs & renovations going on. Some new trees have been planted. The tornado happened in late August last year but the repairs & rebuilding in Goderich will be going on for some time to come.   As well, some new trees have been planted around Goderich’s court house where every tree & shrub was torn out or flattened. It's kind of uncanny driving around an area that once was so familiar & now looks so eerily different & hauntingly strange.

A YEAR AGO STANDING HERE, THE THE TOP TWO THIRDS OF THE GODERICH COURT HOUSE WOULD HAVE BEEN OBSCURED BY TALL MAPLE TREES…ALL GONE NOW BUT NEW TREES HAVE BEEN PLANTED TO THE LEFT

NOT SURE, BUT THESE WOOD CARVINGS MAY HAVE BEEN DONE FROM THE TRUNKS OF BLOWN DOWN TREES

A LARGE GAZEBO FOR OUTDOOR CONCERTS ONCE STOOD ON THIS OCTAGON CEMENT PLATFORM
Forgot to bring the bird feeders in last night so you can guess what happened. Well, l like me, you might would have guessed wrong.   Amazingly enough, all feeders were still hanging in place & not smashed up on the ground. Have also determined Mr. Rocky Raccoon (remember that from the Beatles white album I think) has not breeched my stovepipe defence on the bird station. Seed on the platform in the mornings tell me the Coon has not climbed there to vacuum them up. Will I bring the feeder’s in tonight….Yep!!

THE COLOR OF THIS VIBRANT BLUE FISH & CHIP PLACE NEAR THE GODERICH HARBOR REMINDS ME OF MANY COLORFUL BUILDINGS IN FISHING VILLAGES I HAVE SEEN ON CANADA’S EAST COAST, NAMELY NOVA SCOTIA

Kelly took some photos with her Canon PowerShot A430 while in Cambridge the past few days & I'm happy to say she did all the Picasa photo editing herself. Cropping, lighting, sharpening, etc. She's getting pretty comfortable with my Nikons as well. This Gal can do anything:))

KELLY WITH SON JASON & DAUGHTER SABRA

KELLY’S MOM, KELLY HOLDING JASON’S SON REEVE…KELLY, HER MOM, LANGDON, KEENAN & THEIR MOM, KELLY’S DAUGHTER, SABRA

KELLY’S BROTHER PETER…KELLY & SABRA…KELLY’S SON BEN
Recent rains & warmer weather really have our plant life greening up & leafing out quickly right now. Next month about this time our property will be looking full & lush. We will once again be happily enclosed in our ever growing jungle of garden greenery. I will probably be out in the bush again shortly digging up more Pine & Cedar trees too. Now that my legs are feeling much better I can resume some more landscaping. Finished up our day in sunshine so Pheebs & I headed out for a walk in the forest. Momma Goose is still sitting on her nest but any day now I expect to see some fuzzy little yellow fellows paddling around on the pond between a couple of proud parents.

LOCAL FISHERMEN GATHER AROUND THE STERN OF A GREAT LAKES FREIGHTER

Noticed we have 2 new Blog Followers today so Kelly, Pheebs & I welcome aboard HAPPY MOM & TAMMY MAHONEY. Nice to have you folks join our travels whether they be near or far. More near than far for right now but we still try to keep things interesting from day to day until we get the big wheels rolling again in October.

A LARGE GRAIN ELEVATOR EMERGES OUT OF THE HARBOR FOG
THE LAST PARAGRAPH: Ever wonder why someone would continue to read a blog they didn't like, day after day. What does it say about that reader's personality. What is their reasoning, their motive? What would a readers purpose be for doing that? What kind of thought processes go on in a person's mind to make them think the way they do? I wonder……………………..
GROANER’S CORNER:(( Hey, how about a Pun night……
- When chemists die, they barium
- Jokes about German sausage are the wurst
- I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but says he can stop any time.
- How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
- I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
- This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I could swear I'd never met herbivore.
- I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com

AND TO THINK, YEARS AGO I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE GRAND CANYON WAS…….:((

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:06:00 +0000

KELLY AT THE GRAND CANYON’S NORTH RIM ON NOVEMBER 21RST 2007…ALL OF TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE FROM THE NORTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON

Reading Chinle’s SPOTTED DOG RANCH post this morning about Geography, I was reminded of the time I couldn’t find Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Yep, it’s true, I just didn’t know where it was.

A BEAUTIFUL DRIVE TO THE NORTH RIM

KEEP IN MIND THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN SIXTEEN & HALF YEARS AFTER TODAY’S STORY

The year was 1992 & the month was May. My Dad had just died a few months earlier & I had it my head to get away from it all to see & do something totally different for a bit. My wife at the time, Susan, worked for an accounting firm & tax season wasn’t over until the end of April. Can’t remember where I was working at the time but it probably wasn’t anywhere too important. Earliest we could get away was the second week in May. Had always wanted to see the Grand Canyon so that was the destination.

IT WAS LATE IN THE SEASON SO NOBODY WAS AROUND

No internet in those days & I’m not even sure we had a map of the Southwest. Threw a bunch of stuff into the back of our little white Mazda pick-up truck & we were off. The truck did have a cap on the back by the way. My mind is sketchy on all the trip details but I do know we made it to Moab Utah somehow, sleeping in the back of the pick up truck most nights. Remember, it’s May & still cold through Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, etc. Can’t imagine now how we did that but of course that was 20 years ago when we were still young enough to be kind of foolishly hardy.

As I recount this story now I have memories coming back from parts of the trip I hadn’t thought about in years but I’ll just concentrate on the Grand Canyon story for now. We did get to see the ‘Arches’ in Moab & the memories of those canyons & rock formations have always stayed with me. In fact, Moab & that whole surrounding area still remains in my heart as a very special place. I don’t know how or why I didn’t know where the Grand Canyon was & it seems so ridiculous now all these years later. Maybe I was expecting to see a big flashing neon sign along the road somewhere saying, ‘This Way To The Grand Canyon’. I think I might have known it was in Arizona somewhere so that is where we headed. I remember leaving Moab & heading down highway 191 through the towns of Mexican Hat & Kayenta. I remember the hot, hot, days & the cold, cold, nights sleeping in the back of that pick up truck.

NORTH RIM LODGE WITH WINDOWS BOARDED UP FOR THE WINTER

Didn’t realize it but we were heading right for the Grand Canyon on highway 160 when for some unknown reason I got it in my head to head northwest & see if it was up there someplace. Would have been so easy to pay more attention to a map or ask directions but you have to remember….I’m a man, so the second part of the above 2 options didn’t apply. Kind of remember going through Page Az. & crossing the Glen Canyon dam still looking for that big flashing neon Grand Canyon sign.

I DID TAKE A LOT OF PHOTOS IN 92 BUT THEY ARE ALL KODACHROME SLIDES

It was somewhere shortly after the dam crossing that I decided on a bumpy little dusty road heading back up into Utah towards Bryce Canyon. Bryce must have rang some kind of bell in my head but I’m sure the sound would have echoed all around the empty travel information chambers I had up there. Did get to see some great scenery along that road though. Cotton Canyon, Grosvenor’s Arch, & Kodachrome Basin come to mind. Anyway, to shorten this up a bit, we did end up in the little town of Panquitch in an RV Park somewhere while we had ourselves a look at Bryce Canyon. It was round about this time that I was finally able to connect a few travel brain cells together long enough to realize just where the Grand Canyon actually was. Turns out it was about 150 miles south of us.

SO MUCH TO SEE HERE & WE SAW SO LITTLE BECAUSE OF OUR BRIEF VISIT

Now, why I made the next decision I have no idea but we were up early on the morning of May 15th & drove the 3 plus hours to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. At this point I don’t even think I knew there was a south rim. Turns out it was opening day at the North Rim so we were in a line of cars to get in. I remember how impressed I was with forests along the way & the lodge & cabins there. Walking the paths & peering down into the Grand Canyon was like nothing I had seen before & it made a lasting impression on me. Spent the day & then drove the 3 plus hours back to Panquitch….most of it in the dark. It had turned out to be a long & tiring day. Next morning we headed for Zion Canyon which of course made no sense in the traveling scheme of things when you consider the proximities of the Grand Canyon & Zion to where we were in Panquitch, Utah. Oh the anguish of an unseasoned traveler:((

HOPE TO RETURN TO THE NORTH RIM SOME DAY & TAKE SOME MUCH BETTER PHOTOS

In a nutshell I guess it was this trip in 92 that really opened my eyes to the importance of travel planning & getting things right the first time around. Well, kinda opened my eyes anyway. Still have a habit of winging it a lot of times. The fact we got to see as much as we did still amazes me. For basically flying blind we did get to see Buffalo Bill’s house in Nebraska, Estes’ State Park, Colorado, Moab & the Arches, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone Park, the Custer Battlefield & Devil’s Tower in Wyoming & Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. By the looks of it I may have stopped to ask directions along the way after the Grand Canyon fiasco. I may not quite know the American Southwest like the back of my hand yet but I sure do know where the Grand Canyon is now…..both rims:))

Cloudy start to the day & it stayed that way with rain in the afternoon. Kelly arrived home about 12 noon & totally surprised me & the Pheebs. We had both fallen asleep. Pheebs on the couch & me in my recliner. Morning play time can kind of do that to a couple best Pals. Nice to have Kelly home again & no, I will not miss my Hungry Man dinners. You really didn't think I liked those things did you:))

FRIENDS MAUREEN, MIKE & MOLLY….ALSO FROM CANADA

Kelly had a great couple days in Cambridge visiting with her Mother, Brother, two Sons & one daughter plus all the other family members & Grand Kids. Met some new folks, made some new friends & visited with old friends. A busy couple days & she's glad to be home.

Had a comment question from Pat B today wondering how to join our Blog. Just under our top header photo you will see a bunch of thumbnail photos on our Blog Followers list. Top left of those photos you will see a Google tag that says, 'Join this site.' Click that & follow the prompts. I know Google has a habit of changing things so I'm not sure what barrels & hoops you will have to jump over or go through. Maybe none:)) I do know it is easier to join for folks who already have Google accounts & I assume most do. Also want to mention again that there are no obligations of any kind for a reader to join anyone's Blog Follower list.

Have to be at the Goderich Hospital for 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. X-rays & Ultra-Sound for my lower back, legs & right knee. Both painless procedures so I will not have to be put in a straight jacket & forced to go. Next week the medical appointments begin to ramp up as we head for my Kidney Stone surgery on May 28th. Straight jacket & brute force definitely required for that one..........

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources person asked a young applicant fresh out of Business School, "And what starting salary are you looking for?"
The applicant said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."
The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years - say, a red Corvette?"
The applicant sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?"
And the interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com

MY FURRY LITTLE SHADOW

noreply@blogger.com (THE BAYFIELD BUNCH) — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:22:00 +0000

DRAGONFLIES ON A LILY PAD

Pheebs & I did find a nice piece of high ground Saturday night to watch the full Moon come up. Only about a 10 minute drive from home, the hill was originally used for large satellite dishes & communication towers years ago. Managed to get ourselves backed into the driveway & set up the tripod & camera. Nice night & not cold. Pheebs had a blast running around all over the place checking everything out.

AS I WAIT PATIENTLY YOU CAN SEE THE SLIM BAND OF CLEAR SKY FOR THE MOON RISE

We had a moderate cloud bank overhead & the only clear sky around was low down along the horizon. I knew I would probably have less than 10 minutes from first spotting the moon to before it disappeared into the clouds. About 8:35 I could see a dull glow about half way up the narrow horizontal clear space. The very faint Moon slowly began to materialize out of a hidden cloud bank close to the horizon. Because of the low angle, the Moon was shrouded in heavy atmosphere giving it a reddish orange look. A condensed atmosphere like that is made up of earth’s air such as dust, pollution, smoke, etc & that is why a Moon close to the horizon always has a certain amount of color to it. A Moon straight overhead is much clearer & free of atmosphere making it whiter looking & much more detailed. But, it was the horizon Moon I was looking for Saturday night & although not crystal clear like it would be later, I did crack off a few shots anyway.

By the way, I hesitate to use the word ‘Super’ to describe this Moon. It’s just simply another, Full Moon. Oh, & one more thing…the big Moon you see close to the horizon & the smaller Moon you see a few hours later above you are actually the same size. When you see the big Moon close to the horizon you are actually seeing an optical illusion because of the Moon’s proximity to the horizon & objects on the ground. You might have to think about this one….but it’s true.

FULL MOON EMERGING FROM A LOW CLOUD BANK AT 8:35 P.M.

FULL MOON ASCENDS INTO THE UPPER CLOUD BANK…TIME SPAN BETWEEN FIRST & LAST PHOTO WAS 6 MINUTES & 42 SECONDS

This morning dawned clear & sunny with no wind. Tossed the cameras in the Jeep, loaded up the Pheebs & off we went on a Sunday morning errand run & photo tour. A few things to pick up in Goderich & with a quick stop at McDonald’s for a couple Burritos (Motormouse’s favorite) we were headed back out of town onto some back country roads. Had a spot in mind where I knew I could let the Pheebs out to explore around.

EVEN MOSS ON A LOG CAN LOOK OK

Although we do live in a small community here at the 5 Seasons Estates our Park is ideally situated right out in the country just a couple miles outside Bayfield. When we leave our Park we do not have to drive out into the countryside, because we are already in the countryside. And, I see that as a huge bonus to where we live. The roadside ponds Pheebs & stopped at this morning are only a nice quiet twenty minute scenic country road drive from where we live. Spent about half an hour poking around the Ponds & headed for home. Pheebs was needing a big rest after all her running around chasing frogs, butterfly’s, a few fish & the occasional leaf blowing across the road. Rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at home.

PHEEBS CHECKS OUT A GANG OF GEESE ON THE POND

Of course you are all wondering what kind of fine culinary fare I would be dining on this evening again, seeing’s how I am all by myself for a couple days. Well, let me tell ya…..another Hungry Man dinner of course. Steak even…..well, Salisbury steak I guess. Straight out of the freezer & into the micro-wave. Guess I didn’t quite nuke it long enough because I ran into a few ice bergs in the middle of the mashed potatoes. The green beans were a little on the cold & stiff side but what the heck. Awwww, tis quite the lap of Culinary luxury I am in I though, as I spooned up the last crumbs of my sticky but still smouldering brown Brownie.

I think had we not named the Pheebs, Pheebe, we could have easily named her Shadow. She shadows Kelly or I everywhere. Makes me think she may have an abandonment fear. If I move from one room to another, Pheebs is right behind me. At night she sleeps on my bed & when I get up to go to the washroom, Pheebs gets up as well & comes & lays outside the washroom door. And, when I go back to bed, Pheebs goes back to bed. If by chance she falls asleep on the couch & I tip toe off to the computer room, I will hear her minutes later come racing down the hall & into the sunroom where I am seated. She carries on like she hasn’t seen me in 6 weeks. Of course I carry on with her the same way. This goes on all day long. If I go outside to get something out of the Jeep, she is at the window, & when I return to the house 40 seconds later it’s as if I’ve been gone forever. She is just soooooo expressive with her happiness. Now, this just doesn’t happen with me, it happens with Kelly as well & when I’m not here Pheebs sticks to Kelly like glue. Never have I ever seen such a consistently happy dog in all my life. Oh what I wouldn’t give for just a fraction of Pheebs personality. My furry little shadow:))

EXPLORING ALONG THE EDGE OF THE POND

A quick check of our Blog site tells me we have a new Blog Follower. Today we welcome Theresa to our travels. Thank you for dropping by & taking the time to sign on to our Blog Followers list. By the way, there are no obligations whatsoever for anyone to join our Blog or any of our fellow Blogger’s sites. Might be a little bit of a pain jumping through a few Google hoops but each & every blogger always appreciates the folks who take the time to do that.

I WAS TEMPTED TO ASK THIS FELLOW IF HE WAS INTERESTED IN A GAME OF LEAP FROG…AFTER ALL, I WAS IN POSITION

EVEN A COUPLE FISH PHOTOS ALONG WITH SOME UNDERWATER PLANT LIFE

And again, just a quick note to folks about my Facebook. Because I have been hacked a couple times I do not accept ‘Friend Requests any more. Nor do I sign on to any apps or requests of any kind. No game stuff & I do not join anything. Only thing I use Facebook for is to drop my Blog into at the end of each day. (if I can remember) Nothing personal whatsoever towards anyone. I just do not want to get ‘hacked’ again & have to go through all that crap of trying to get the hacker out of my account. It’s obvious Facebook isn’t going to protect me from these low life’s so I have no choice but to do it myself. Again, for you folks sending me ‘requests’ & things, I will not respond…….nothing personal.

DRAGONFLIES

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Two zebras are talking and one asks the other, "Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes?" The other replies, "Well I don't
know. You should pray to God about that and ask him." So that night he did
and God replied, "You are what you are." The next day he said to the other
zebra, "I still don't understand what I am because God just said, You are
what you are." The second zebra responds, "You must be white with black
stripes or else God would have said, Yo is what yo is."

stargeezerguy@gmail.com